Endless Waltz of Life
by RGZ Archer
Summary: The Endless Waltz, a dance well known, but seldom recognized, it is an eternal cycle to be repeated by all, from the greatest of civilizations to the lowliest of individuals. War, Peace, and Revolution. better summary inside
1. War

Endless Waltz Chapter One: War

Summery: The Endless Waltz, a dance well known, but seldom recognized, it is an eternal cycle to be repeated by all, from the greatest of civilizations to the lowliest of individuals. War, Peace, and Revolution. This story will tell of Rika's first steps onto the great dance floor of life, and how she began _her_ Endless Waltz.

AN: Well, time to get this show on the road! This story marks the official start of the Rika/Takato ship for my series of stories. The previous stories all had hints and tidbits, but now it's time for things to seriously get rolling. I hope that this story will be enjoyed at least as much as my previous ones, and that I don't let you guys/girls down here. You've given me a lot of praise, and I still don't feel like I deserve it all, but I'm doing my best to live up to ya'lls expectations. This story will consist of three chapters, with the last one tying in to the ending of 'A Valentine's Day To Remember'. After that we're out of the 'past' and into the 'present/future'.

Fluttering her eyes open, Rika tried to banish the evil that was morning sunlight. Unfortunately for her however, despite her angry glares having the power to drive off weak digimon and weak Tamer's alike, she lacked anywhere near the power to scare away the sun.

_Groan_

Rolling over, Rika buried her face into her pillows.

"_Stupid sunlight had to go and wake me up from stupid dreams about stupid Gogglehead…."_ Blinking and realizing just what she had thought, Rika let out a snarling growl as she buried her face even deeper into her pillow, and screamed.

Sure, he was her friend, she knew that, and would freely admit as much. She didn't mind being around him, and she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy hanging out with him. (Though she would never admit that part aloud_._) Spending the night with him had been…interesting, and the following day was like something that had been ripped straight out of some twisted reality show, but she had endured it, she had survived it.

Her dreams however, were another matter.

Rika was territorial with only a few things in life, _very_ few things, but her dreams were probably one of the top three. They were _her_ dreams; it was _her_ mind and _her_ private playground to do as she pleased.

Her dreams were supposed to be filled with glorious battles.

Her dreams were supposed to be filled with pounding Kazu and other weaklings into the dirt.

Her dreams were the ONE place she could completely destroy Ryo, taunt him for his weakness, and gloat about how much greater than him she was.

Her dreams were NOT supposed to be filled with battles between her as Sakuyamon against Gallantmon, or him _saving_ her.

At the very least, he wasn't supposed to be the one that won the battles between them.

It irked her to no end that she had dreamed of him rescuing her three times, and defeating her in one on one combat twice that night.

Looking up, she glared at her alarm clock. Sunday, February sixteenth, again she groaned. Normally they would have had school yesterday, but the teachers had to call an emergency staff meeting, and figured that the students wouldn't mind a two day break. A two day break was usually when she would sleep in and give the others a shot at night patrols, but this time she couldn't do it, she just couldn't go back to sleep, not when she knew what would be waiting for her the minute she closed her eyes.

"_This doesn't even make sense, why would I be dreaming about fighting Takato in the first place? Sure we've had words between us in the past, but we would never get out partners involved in something like that, it'd be stupid!"_

Thinking back, she tried to remember the specific details of her dreams that night. She knew that one was about the Locomon incident, and another was her run in with IceDevimon, but the third one had been completely out of the blue, having involved him fighting against the D-Reaper of all things.

_And that still doesn't explain why I would dream about fighting him…_" Rika thought, slightly worried about the dreams implications.

Closing her eyes, she was able to see bits and pieces flash across her mind. The two of them standing atop Hypnos, one standing on each tower, then Biomerging, and battling. It had been a tie for quite some time, but then something happened and he suddenly gained the upper hand, defeating her in only a few quick moments, sending her plummeting to the ground below only to snatch her up before she could hit pavement. The second one she remembered a bit more clearly since it had been her last dream of the night. She remembered that he came to her, challenged her, and battled her right outside her room in her family's backyard. That battle had been far more detailed, for some reason neither one of them were using their attacks, instead only using their bodies and natural weapons, from Gallantmon's Aegis to her staff.

Flashback

Sakuyamon bent backwards and dodged Gallantmons lance by less than an inch. Gritting her teeth, Rika pushed off with her free hand and used her other to strike Gallantmon across his helmet with her staff.

"**Rika! Stop this! I don't want to fight you! Please!"**

Her only response was a feral growl. She didn't know why, but she couldn't speak in this dream, she could hear, she could see, she could touch and smell, but her mouth refused to work. Every time she tried, the only thing she could feel was a great bottomless well of seething anger rise up.

"_WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?! NO ONE CONTROLS ME! NO ONE! I KNEEL TO NO ONE!"_

The thought was almost foreign to her, sure, she'd never let anyone boss her around, but Takato had long ago earned her respect and loyalty, why else would she accept him as leader of the Tamers? There was still the odd occasion where he would screw up, but either she or Ryo would step in and give him a hand whenever that happened, and those times were becoming more and more infrequent. It had actually been over six months since the last such occasion happened and it was a small one. Added to that, another thing that made this dream make no sense was that she knew, she _knew_ that Takato would _never_ try to force her to do _anything_; no one that actually knew her was stupid enough to do that, he and Ryo especially.

But in this dream, she kept hearing that same thought roll over and over in her mind. He was trying to order her around, he was trying to boss her around, he was trying to make her do something against her will. What, she didn't know, only that it was something that made her angry beyond compare.

Gallantmon took the hit, and surprised her when he fell back and disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing but his red cape drifting in the air before her.

"**Please Rika stop, I don't want things to be this way, please!"**

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She could feel cold metal resting against her neck and chin.

She knew it had to be his lance.

Twisting her face into a scowl usually reserved for Ryo, Rika spoke with a voice colder than death itself.

"**NEVER! NOT NOW, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS! I WILL NOT YIELD!"**

She felt the blade twitch, and despite knowing he would never use it on her, she felt herself stiffen, it was as if some unearthly force was _pushing_ fear into her mind, something was _making_ her be afraid of her friend. For some reason, at that very moment, she was afraid of him, afraid at how he would reply, and more confusingly, she was afraid of how he would react.

Before he could speak or reply however, she woke up from the dream, tired, sweaty, and sore from head to toe. She _felt_ like she had gone two rounds with team leader.

End Flashback

"_I…wonder….what would happen if…"_

"Rika, are you ok?"

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Rika managed to control her reaction just in time. It had been a long time since Renamon managed to get the drop on her like that, and she knew that her partner and friend had not actually been trying this time. Not wanting her surprise to be noticed, she shot off the first thing that she could think of.

Which she would later regret.

"Renamon, if we were to fight Gallantmon, who would win?"

"_Great, now she'll think I'm having confidence issues or something, ugh I can't believe I just pulled off a Gogglehead,"_ Rika groaned mentally.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that her partner was actually contemplating the matter and giving it serious thought.

Icy blue eyes opened and focused on her light violet irises.

"Why do you ask Rika?" She asked with a quiet, but still direct tone.

Shrugging her shoulders, Rika once again tossed out the first thing that came to mind, which fortunately for her was much better than the last one.

"Just…curious. I was thinking about back when this all started…and now…."

Renamon tiled her head slightly for a moment as she listened to her Tamer.

"And you were wondering if Takato and Guilmon have become stronger since then?"

Rika nodded her head lamely. It wasn't exactly the truth, but it wasn't a lie either, she _had_ actually wondered about that more than just a few times lately, just not in the last few days.

Renamon took a deep breath before answering.

"Honestly, I don't know Rika. They have become much stronger than they were four years ago, but so have we. I would like to think it would be an equal fight, one whose outcome depended on too many variables and factors to take into account and properly guess."

Hearing that strange little voice in the back of her head, Rika pushed the matter.

"Would you…be upset…if he won?"

Her partner walked towards her and knelt down so that they were now eye to eye.

"Only if you were Rika, only if you were," pausing for a moment, Renamon scanned her Tamer's eyes, peered into her thoughts without using any of her abilities or their bond before she continued speaking. "If it angered you that we lost to them, then yes, it would upset me greatly," she replied sincerely.

That answer didn't sit too well with Rika.

"Only if _I_ had a problem with it? Why _wouldn't _I have a problem with it?" Rika asked, perhaps with a bit more venom than she really meant to.

Not even blinking, Renamon answered her, still peering into her surface thoughts.

"If someone is stronger than you, is it right to be angered by that fact alone? If one wields that power for personal gain, if they use it improperly, then I would be angered to lose to such an opponent, but that is not Takato, Guilmon, or Gallantmon. I follow Takato only because you do Rika, not because I desire to."

Furrowing her brow in confusion, Rika was cut off before she could ask her question.

"If you wished it Rika, I would raise my hand against them willingly and wholly, but only if you desired it. I told you long ago, I stand with you, and only you. My loyalty is to no group, no team, and no ideal, it is only to you."

"_She…only follows him because I do? But…why do I follow him? I was stronger than him and Henry put together when we first met, heck, I'm STILL stronger than most of the others combined, barring Ryo….so why did I follow someone that much weaker than me back then?"_

Feeling an impending headache, Rika groaned and collapsed back into her futon.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Renamon asked, puzzled by her Tamer's odd behavior.

Snorting at her partner's question, Rika replied half jokingly.

"Yeah, find out why I followed Gogglehead into the sewers four years ago."

When she heard Renamon phase back into the shadows, she figured that Renamon had gotten the joke and left her to be.

If only she knew.

Pulling herself out from her bed, Rika decided to stretch for a few minutes. She had no intention of doing any exercises today since she was so tired, but she figured that a few calisthenics would do her aching muscles some good.

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Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Renamon pondered over her Tamer's strange behavior from this morning. She was still learning about humans, but one thing she had quickly learned was that there were apparently various and random inconsistencies that started with humans soon after they turned fourteen, and lasted until they reached about nineteen or twenty years of age.

At least according to Seiko anyways.

One day Rika would literally be dancing across the air, her feet not touching the ground for hours on end.

Other days however…she hated to admit it, but there were occasions where Kazu and Ryo were fairly accurate with their observations of her Tamer.

"_Is she troubled with Takato and Guilmon's growth? No, that can't be it, if it was; she wouldn't have spent so much time training him. Rika wants Takato to become strong, she always has, so it makes no sense for her to be upset with getting the desired results of her time and effort…Does she think that he is stronger than herself?"_

That seemed to strike a chord within her Tamer's line of thinking. Rika had been rather vocal about her not wanting to be seen as weak in any way shape or form. But again, that went against her own logic. She desired for Takato to become as strong as Ryo, and Ryo, despite her never admitting to it, was stronger than she. So for Takato to be seen as that powerful would make her even stronger since it was because of her that he became that powerful. It was self defeating to become angered by that.

"_Could it be…some kind of internal conflict? If part of her wants one thing, but another part of her is rejecting it….But who would be the best to ask about that sort of thing? I need to be careful how I go about this. Ryo knows Rika better than anyone other than Takato or her own family, but Henry and Impmon understand human behavior better than anyone else. Which would be the better choice?"_

Stopping on top of a large branch, Renamon closed her eyes, and grasped for the threads of reasoning that were floating within her mind. One was purple, one was green, and the last was dark grey. All three felt warm to the touch, which to her meant that they all had some credibility to them. Not able to choose which would fit the situation best, she decided that all three would be the best solution.

Opening her eyes, Renamon back flipped and launched herself towards the upper Shinjuku district.

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Twisting to her side, Rika counted off in her head. This was her last stretch, then she would shower up and head for breakfast. Something she had been dreading since last night.

_Sllllluuunk_

"Rika, it's almost seven are you up…yet?"

Turning towards her mother, Rika took a calming breath. She was about to remind her that she had promised to explain everything after breakfast, not _before_. But the strange look on her mother's face made her forget that thought completely.

"Uh….mom…is something…wrong?" Rika asked, slightly unnerved by her mother's odd expression.

Rumiko entered her daughter's room with a concerned and questioning face, heading straight for her.

Following her mother's line of sight, which happened to be below her neck, she looked down, and for the second time that morning nearly jumped out of her skin.

"_KAMI! How did I forget that I was still wearing Takato's gym clothes! Gotta think of something fast!"_

"Uh…mom, what's wrong?"

"_Brilliant, absolutely brilliant…idiot."_

"Rika, why are you…what happened to your gym clothes? I don't remember then hanging off of you like that last time you brought them home to wash."

"_What? She thinks these are mine? Ok, I can work with this…I think."_

"Oh, uhhh, these aren't my normal ones. I just got them this week; they're for sleeping in, not gym."

"_Not a lie, completely and totally true,"_ Rika congratulated herself.

"But aren't they a bit cold for you honey? It's the middle of winter," Rumiko asked as she tugged on the loose top that was halfway falling off of Rika's shoulder.

"No mom, they're fine, really. I just got a little hot last night, I'm ok."

With a slight frown, Rumiko turned to leave, but not before looking over her shoulder back to Rika with a stern gaze.

"You have a lot to explain this morning Rika; I hope that you haven't forgotten that."

Rika sighed and nodded her head in response. She knew that it was going to be a very long day, but at the same time, she knew that she had no choice in the matter.

Moving towards her private bathroom, Rika never noticed the small writing on the back of the shirt she was wearing, the writing that had almost made Rumiko drag Rika into the living room for an interrogation.

Property of: Takato Matsuki _Wash only in warm water._

DIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMONDIGIMON

Running up the side of the wall at full speed, Renamon jumped and landed on top of the skyscraper without the slightest hint of difficulty. This was something she had done for years after all.

Spinning on her heel, Renamon faced the penthouse with a determined glare. This was the Tamer dwelling she visited the least frequently, and the only one that Rika had never been to herself. She had only found it by fluke several years ago, but she knew it was the right place.

A glass door slid open to reveal a young woman with mid length brown hair. She appeared to be in her mid to early thirties , and though Renamon had never seen her before, she was able to guess who the young woman was without much difficulty.

"Mrs. Akiyama, may I please speak to your son?"

The young woman nodded her head and silently went back into the home. Several moments later, a groggy and severely disheveled Ryo emerged from the same door rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Wah? Renamon…do you have any idea what time it is? How did you even find me?" Ryo asked with a yawn.

Renamon carefully scanned the area once over, looking for the boy's temperamental partner before she answered.

"I saw Cyberdramon land here several years ago and the two of you inter the building after a battle."

Chuckling, the boy made his way over to a picnic table situated under an umbrella and motioned her to have a seat.

Waving off the offer, Renamon chose to stand, but she did move herself to be under the shade it provided.

"Well, I take it that something is wrong, or you need something….unless Rika's in some kind of trouble," he asked sharply.

Renamon shook her head.

"No, I am here on my own volition, and though nothing is wrong with her, this does concern Rika."

Leaning back in his seat, the Digimon King settled in for what he knew would be either a long or uncomfortable chat with the Queens partner.

"What seems to be the problem? I can't promise that I'll be able to help, but I will give it my best shot," he offered calmly.

Nodding, Renamon gathered her thoughts together as best she could.

"Rika has been acting…strange lately…"

Immediately, alarm bells went off in Ryo's head. Alarms that every male was born with, and that only the bravest, or stupidest ignored.

"I…see…." Gulping, Ryo fired off the universal potshot to get away from the looming discussion he knew was heading his way like Machinedramon's Giga Cannon.

"Have you tried speaking with her mother or grandmother about this?"

Shaking her muzzle, Renamon spoke.

"They would not be able to answer my questions on this matter….they are not as familiar with Rika's reasoning and thinking process as you are."

That caught the teen's attention.

"_What on Earth is she talking about? How could her own mother and grandmother not…unless…whew, thank Kami, it's not _that_, ok, maybe I can help after all."_

"How would you sum up the problem in as few words as possible?" He asked, trying to get a clear view of what exactly he was dealing with here.

Taking only a moment to think, Renamon answered.

"Rika is questioning her motives, and her reasons for accepting Takato as leader of the Tamers."

"_Rika…is…what? That doesn't make any sense; she's always backed him up and followed him from the very beginning…unless…that's the problem?"_

"Is she having trouble understanding why she follows him now, or why she followed him in the first place?"

It didn't even take Renamon the time to blink for her to answer the question.

"The latter, she accepts that he is a good leader, and that he is strong, now. Her problem seems to be revolving around when the Tamer's first met up and were formed. Of the three, she was the strongest, yet she willingly followed someone much weaker than her at the time," Renamon explained.

Ryo frowned and took a deep breath.

"_That….is a very good question. Rika's got a will of iron and she hates being told what to do. Heck, she hates for other people to even give her a hand when she actually needs help. Why would she follow him indeed?"_

Ryo respected Takato, and to a degree he even saw the younger teen as something of a younger or less experienced brother. While he and Rika had been champion level players for years, even winning several regional tournaments _before_ becoming Tamers, Takato had only been a novice, and his skills were mediocre at best. His resources were limited, and his collection of cards left much to be desired for a true Tamer at the time, but he hung in there and climbed his way up. After the whole D-Reaper incident, Ryo managed to sit down and have an actual civil conversation with Rika for the sake of learning about the others. He hadn't had the time to get to know them since things had been to chaotic up until then, so he was more than just a little bit curious about his fellow Tamers. He had been pulled away to the digital world and had been away for so long that he didn't even know there _were_ other Tamers. That alone had surprised him for a few days, but he didn't let it show at the time.

When he first met the others as a whole, he thought for sure that Rika had been the leader of the little group. He had known Kazu and Kenta as having played in several tournaments before, and knew of their…less than sterling records. But he had never seen or even heard of the others present.

He didn't have a problem with Rika leading, but he was going to be careful to keep an eye on her, knowing that she was a bit rough around the edges and might have forced the others to let her lead. She was powerful, no doubt about that, but he was just a little more.

So, imagine his surprise when he found that it was not the fierce and dreaded 'Digimon Ice Queen' that led the group, but the quiet and unassuming Takato Matsuki. The boy was obviously still in the fledgling stages of taming, yet he learned and became more experienced with each passing battle at a frightening rate. Ryo didn't want to interfere with the team's internal structure, fearing that such a shift in team dynamics would cause major problems since they were busy handling a crisis, that was why he relegated himself to the role of a supporter, and the team scout.

Back to the conversation after the D-Reaper, he was floored yet again.

Apparently, Henry had been playing the game for quite some time; and was more than up to competition level, he just never had the desire to play competitively. Then there were Ai, Mako and Suzie, who were complete novices in every sense of the word, and before losing her partner, Jeri had only been a Tamer for two weeks.

Takato however, the leader of the Tamers, and the only person Ryo had ever met that Rika would willingly listen to and follow the orders of, had only been a Tamer for a little over two months.

Somehow, in that short span of time, he had earned the trust, respect, loyalty, and friendship of people that had been taming for much longer than he had, people that were _far_ stronger than him.

He had been so stunned by this revelation that he had neglected to ask Rika the very question that Renamon herself was now seeking an answer to.

"Renamon…I'm afraid that I can't answer your question. I wish I knew the answer myself, but I don't. Everything that I know about Rika says that there is no way that she should have, that she would have brushed him off, or she would have made herself the leader at the time. I wasn't there when they first met, so I don't know if something happened that might have influenced her decision, or if there is more to it than that," Ryo answered carefully as he kept in mind the 'unique circumstances' regarding his partner. He of all people knew that there were some things that just happened, and that could not have happened any other way.

"Are you implying that Rika made a mistake in choosing to follow Takato's lead? That her judgment was not sound at the time?"

Not liking the way her question sounded, Ryo was quick to clarify his response.

"No, that's not what I meant, it's just that…" Closing his eyes, Ryo tried to figure out how to say this without it coming across as an insult.

"Rika…hates being told what to do. She respects strength, but at the same time she despises being weaker than someone else. The thought that she would follow or accept _anyone_ as a leader over herself is still difficult for me to imagine. But for her to accept someone that's not at least as strong as her as leader…it just goes against everything I know about her. The only thing I can figure is that it is something more than his skill or strength as a Tamer, that it must have nothing to do with digimon at all. Sorry if that's not what you were looking for, but it's all I can think of," the boy answered honestly.

Renamon nodded apparently finding his response satisfactory. "Thank you for your help Ryo…" Seeing her hesitate, he chuckled and waved his hand.

"Go ahead, ask, I know you've got something else on your mind."

The fox gave him a hard gaze as she spoke.

"I would appreciate it if you never spoke to anyone about what we discussed here today."

Ryo gave a weak laugh at hearing her request.

"And in return, I won't tell anyone about your choice in sleepwear."

Ryo's laughing stopped as he looked down and turned slightly red.

"Uh…you have a deal…um…glad I could help?" Ryo choked.

Renamon kept her face stony, but did not suppress the small smirk that raised its head as she flipped off the rooftop and vanished from sight over the ledge.

When he was sure that she was gone, Ryo got up and made his way back to his room with only two thoughts on his mind. The first being to make his way back to 'dreamland'. The second…

"_What's wrong with Kamiaman Rider PJs?"_

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Pulling her hair back into its trademark ponytail, Rika looked herself over in the mirror one last time. As time had passed, her taste in clothing had changed very little. She had a few 'heart' shirts that were her size, but more than not she stuck to 'Plain Jane' attire as her mother put it. Simple light blues and purples with the occasional red or orange for summer and spring. Today she chose a long sleeved light purple shirt and jeans. Given the circumstances however, she felt more like she was suiting up to go into battle rather than just going to eat breakfast with her mother and grandmother.

"_Well, time to face the music I guess. No time like the present."_

Leaving her room, Rika silently marched to the dining room. In the back of her mind she could hear Kazu and Kenta playing 'taps' with a drum and trumpet.

"_Curse you Takato, your stupid imagination is contagious!"_ Rika cried mentally.

Sure enough, there waiting for her with matching expressions of concern were Seiko and Rumiko.

"Not until after breakfast, that was the agreement," Seiko said before her granddaughter could speak a word.

Rika was surprised by her grandmother's actions, but she could almost hear the older woman's voice echoing in her mind the moment their eyes locked.

_Better get your story straight, you only get once chance, use it well!_

Nodding thankfully, Rika took up her spot across from her mother.

Breakfast passed in silence as the three ate without even looking up. Rika felt a bubble of worry starting to form in the pit of her stomach with each passing tick of the wall mounted clock. Sure, she was used to losing odds, bad odds, and even what most would call suicidal odds. But this was something else entirely, this was beyond suicide, this was certain death. If Jupi had recounted even a tiny bit of what had happened yesterday, she was as good as dead. There was a mountain piled up against her and she knew it.

"_Kinda like when Takato had to stand up to his mom for you the other night huh?"_

Rika narrowed her eyes.

"_Shut up…Jeri's voice, I don't need you shaking me down now. If I can't come up with a half decent excuse I'll be lucky if I'm only grounded for the next century!"_ Rika shot back at 'Jeri'.

In her mind she could see the young girl sitting beside her eating away happily with her usual passive and disarming smile.

"_I'm sorry Rika, I didn't mean to upset you, I was only making a comparison. I know you're afraid of what might happen, but don't you think that Takato was too? His mothers at least as scary as yours after all,"_ 'Jeri' defended.

Frowning, Rika replayed the events of that night through her head.

"_Just don't tell my mom we were in any danger ok? She gets a bit…well, you remember how she is," Takato said frowning slightly before turning back towards his home._

"_You coming or what?" He called out over his shoulder._

Rika's expression became a bit more serious.

"_He….knew before we even went inside? He knew that he would have to face his mother and he still did it?"_

Running more of the night through her head, Rika felt another force equal to the bubble of worry start to form alongside it.

"_Really? Then where is she? If what you're saying is true then why are you by yourself? I told you that dinner is at eight o'clock unless there is an emergency!" _

"_Mom! I'm telling you, it's true!"_

The new bubble grew.

"_He….was…fighting….for me?"_

Remembering what happened next almost made her feel ashamed.

"_Mom, me and Guilmon found them a few blocks from here. During the fight she was dedigivolved, I saw it with my own eyes. The only time that happens is if they're caught off guard, or if they're completely exhausted."_

"_Well….we don't have much room Takato, you know that," his mother said casting a sideways glace at Rika, one that the girl didn't like, but chose to ignore for now._

"_It's ok mom. I can sleep on the couch, and I bet our carpet is softer than the hideouts concrete floor," Takato offered, hinting at Guilmon._

The bubble of fear was popped by the newcomer.

"_He stood up to his mother just to give me one night and day of peace."_

Remembering what happened with the 'clothing' issue, and her being locked outside of the room with only a towel, and how Takato and again reacted only out of concern for _her_ and not himself, Rika felt a tug on her lips.

"_He had plenty of chances to take advantage of what was happening, but he didn't, he didn't try to cop a feel or even sneak a peek!"_

Remembering how he tried to keep her from getting bored the following day, and how hard he had tried to make her enjoy her stay, she felt the tug on her lips pull again.

"_Even after Jupi said all those horrible things about him…he didn't say a word…but…the second he focused on me, Takato stepped up and defended me…"_

Feeling a slight tinge to her cheeks, Rika was quick to make an amendment.

"_Even if he didn't need to, I CAN take care of myself….but it's the thought that counts."_

One final tug and her lips curled into a small, but still visible smile. Takato had gone through a lot, and had put up with a lot for her sake.

Now it was her turn.

"_No way am I letting Takato go through all that and me just take advantage of it! I'm just as strong as he is!"_ Rika cheered to herself mentally, not even noticing that she had called him by name, and not 'Gogglehead'.

Pushing her plate forward and setting her chopsticks down, Rika took one last swig of her orange juice before looking up and meeting her mother and grandmothers faces. Gone was every last trace of uncertainty or doubt. She knew _exactly _what she was going to say.

"So, what do you want to know?"

Rumiko was stunned by her daughter's actions. She knew that Rika was brave, and that she was far from being a coward. But since breakfast had started she had only been giving off vibes of fear and trepidation. Now she was figuratively standing tall with an air of unconquerable confidence.

"We already know about why you had to spend the night Rika, but could you please explain to us why Jupi was in such a hurry to leave yesterday afternoon?" Seiko asked, setting down her teacup and meeting her granddaughters certain gaze with her own warm and knowing one.

It could have just been a trick of her older eyes, but for one brief moment Seiko was able to see a silver and red clad knight standing behind Rika.

"Well, were do you want me to begin? He didn't know a single thing about me, he tried some of the lamest pick up lines I've ever heard in my life, and considering that I hang around Kazu, that's pretty bad."

"Rika, dear, he was just trying to get to know you. Of course he wouldn't know that much," Rumiko tried.

Looking over at her mother, Rika raised one of her thin red eyebrows in an almost haughty manner.

"Mom, he didn't know I was a Tamer, he didn't even know who Takato was. If I had to guess, I would say that he's never even set foot outside a photo set in his life."

Seiko took a sip of her tea to cover her small grin. She had to hand it to her; Rika did have a valid point and was making a good start for her 'defense'.

"That's still not an excuse for you to attack him; it's going to take me some time to get back on good terms with his father."

Rika's eyes widened almost comically before she fell on her back and began laughing. Not cruelly, not her mocking and demeaning laugh, but her genuine soft and 'angelic' laugh that Takato and Terriermon were always trying to get out of her.

"Whats so funny?" Rumiko asked, confused by how Rika was acting.

After another minute passed and Rika managed to stop her spasms of laughter, she pulled herself up and gave her mother and grandmother a very proud grin.

"_I_ wasn't the one to attack him, even though I wanted to. _Takato_ was the one to punch his clock, and he took him down with _one_ blow. Jupi dropped like a bag full of rocks mom, it was pathetic," Rika replied before snickering.

Again, Seiko took a nondescript sip from her tea.

"What? Rika, what are you talking about? Takato wouldn't hurt a fly."

"_Unless is happened to say anything bad about me apparently,"_ Rika thought as she once again felt an odd warmth spread across her cheeks.

"Ohhhh but her did mom. He did, I was just surprised that he didn't slug him any sooner with all the garbage he was spewing."

"Garbage?" Seiko asked, quirking her eyebrow in the same manner that her daughter and granddaughter did.

"He was going on about how he was going to get his dad to write up some article on me," Rika stopped when she saw the look on her mother's face. She knew that look, and there was no way she was going to let it grow any further than it was now.

"He was going to paint me as 'Shinjuku's Angel of Mercy' or something like that," Rika said with air quotes before continuing. Her tone suddenly became malicious, and both Seiko and Rumiko were surprised to see how heated her glare became as she spoke.

"He called the Matsuki's a charity case mom, A CHARITY CASE! Takato's not rich, but that's no reason to rub his face in it!" Rika growled.

Seiko reached out and grabbed her granddaughters hand tightly. She knew that Rika was protective of her friends, but even she had not expected it to be to this degree.

"Unfortunately sweetie, that's actually pretty common," Rumiko said with a sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

The raging fire in Rika's eyes simmered down to a 'threatening glowing ember' but it was far from dead.

"What do you mean it's common?" She asked sharply.

"Rika, in the modeling industry, its dog eat dog. Do whatever you can to put yourself above the competition so you stand out. Some do it by adopting children from all over the world, others go into nursing school, and some even sink as low as to use their family's problems as a platform. He probably thought you were just like to rest of the crowd and was getting an early start on your career."

Rika felt her blood turn to molten lava.

"He….thought….that…I….was using….Takato….AS A FREAKING PLATFORM!?" Rika snarled through clinched teeth.

Seeing the room's youngest occupant approaching critical mass, Seiko made a few quick observations before taking action.

"_She is angered that people look down on Takato because of his family's social status, but she seems to be even more angered that someone would think that she would take advantage of his trust in her….hmmm…she values his trust in her more than anything else….interesting."_ Seiko smirked as she witnessed her young granddaughters transformation. Her light violet eyes were burning with rage and her lips were pulling back into an almost feral scowl. With just a little imagination she was able to see tiny puffs of smoke trailing out from her nostrils as her breathing became more and more unstable.

All this added up to only a single, direct, and undeniable conclusion.

"_Looks like my dear little Rika has it bad for the baker boy,"_ Seiko thought as she tightened her grip on the young girls wrist.

"Did you tell him otherwise?" She asked sternly. As much as she wanted to cheer her granddaughter on, she needed to make sure there was no 'damage control' to take care of first. As powerful as this sight of her granddaughter was, and as much good as it would do the young boy to see it himself, it would do no good if she hadn't done something to repair his battered ego at the time of the 'Jupi incident'.

Rika's breathing hitched and her scowl shifted into a wicked, almost vulpine grin.

"Oh yeah grandma, I told him alright, I told him _good_," Rika replied smugly as she thought back to that one moment that Jupi's happy little world came crashing down around him. She might not be comfortable with much in the way of physical contact, but holding Takato by the waist and resting her head on his shoulder just felt so natural to her. His height combined with the size and shape of his shoulder just made it an ideal headrest for her to lean against she noted.

Seiko had to hold back the smirk that was threatening to spread across her features upon hearing that.

"_Good, she restored the boy's confidence it seems, or at least she made sure that he knew she was not looking at him as something less than a friend…but I wish I knew what she said or did. I haven't seen her grin like that in quite some time."_

"So that's why Takato hit him? Because Jupi thought you were just like the other models he spends all day with?" Rumiko asked, sensing that there was more to the story than was being told.

Rika's fire seemed to almost vanish at her mother's question.

"No…he….didn't…not because of that…" As she spoke, Rika unconsciously pulled her arms halfway up around herself, just enough that she was holding the upper part of her arms.

Seiko and Rumiko both felt their hearts stop.

"What did he say?" Seiko asked with sharply narrowed eyes.

"_He must have said something truly vile if it hurt her this badly,"_ Seiko thought darkly.

Looking up at the two older women, Rika blinked to hold back the lone tear that threatened to fall.

"He…said…he said that…I had it all…looks…brains, and more money than a person could hope spend in a life time," Rumiko felt a sense of dread and Seiko could almost feel her heart breaking as she saw Rika's once sparkling eyes become hidden in the shadow of her hairline.

"…the last thing he said was….that it was too bad that dad dropped me on my head on his way out…" As she spoke the cold and hateful words with a half shudder, Rika felt a strong and reassuring arm wrap itself around her from behind, lending her its owners strength. Opening her eyes, she could see that her mother and grandmother were staring at her wide-eyed in disbelief.

"He said that to you?" Rumiko hissed between her teeth.

Seiko said nothing; she feared the consequences of opening her mouth at this time. Her only satisfaction being that the boy got what was coming to him.

"_No wonder he was able to put the boy down with one blow…he must have put every ouch of pain he felt that comment make into his fist,"_ Seiko thought.

Blinking, Rika looked down and saw nothing. She could have sworn that she felt someone holding her moments ago, but the only thing there was her own arms.

"_That's strange…I could have sworn that…"_

"Rika, mother, if you would excuse me for a moment, I have a phone call to make…and several cancelations," she added the second part under her breath, but the rooms other two occupants heard it plain as day.

Seiko let out the breath she had been holding and started to gather the dishes. When she saw Rika's hand reach out however she spoke.

"Rika…why don't you let me take care of these this morning? I'm sure that your friends are up by now. You should go see how they are doing, hmm?"

Swallowing, Rika nodded her thanks and walked back to her room.

"_It was yesterday that it happened…so why does it still hurt?"_ Rika thought as she pulled her favorite blue and red jacket out of her closet and slipped it on.

"_It wouldn't be too strange it I went to check in on Takato this early would it?"_ Rika thought. There was a part of her, a wounded and hurt part that was pulling her towards him for some reason, but there was another part that had just made its presence known the moment she set foot outside of her room and zipped up her jacket.

At first it was opposing the 'hurt' part of her, but then the two joined forces. The one part still wanted to seek out Takato, but only after she took care of the 'other' part.

The part that needed answers, the part that was holding her back from Takato and had since last Friday.

Remembering that she had yet to replace her mobile that she had fallen on fighting the MetalMamamon, Rika hurried to the kitchen and grabbed the phone off the wall. Taking a deep breath, Rika found the strength she was looking for. This was _not_ something she wanted to do; this was something she _had_ to do. Why she didn't know, she just did.

Dialing the number quickly, shoved her free hand into her pocket so it couldn't hit the receiver and hang up the call.

Once, twice, three times the phone rang before it was answered.

"Hello?"

Swallowing, Rika took a deep breath.

"Jeri…it's me Rika…I…we need to talk….it's important."

End chapter 1

AN: Oh am I evil or what? I hope that this chapter lived up to the expectations it sowed. Most likely it didn't…but I'm trying right! Like I said at the beginning, this will be a three chapter story, no more, no less. Be on the lookout for chapter two 'Peace' in about a week. It's high time for the events concerning Takato and Jeri to be brought to light (though I have given enough clues that some of you have guessed). Remember people, I accept anon reviews, and I try to respond within the week if at all possible to signed reviews.

Till next time, Ja Ne!


	2. Peace

Endless Waltz Chapter Two: Peace

AN: I know that this chapter is a bit overdue, but I have my reasons for taking my time. Firstly, this chapter is the make or break chapter of my work. Everything that I've written up until now was leading up to this point, this one chapter, (well, aside from when Takato and Rika become an actual couple, that's the other big moment) so of course I was going to take my time with it. Secondly, Impmon has a LOT of dialog in this chapter, and his accent is murder when your trying to put it in print form, and thirdly, I have been very busy. So, for those of you that have stuck by me, I thank you for waiting patiently, and I pray that this chapter proves to be worth the wait that you have endured. I WILL RESPOND TO YOUR REVIEWS! I just need a little time to catch up. Oh, and (Chibi Archer does happy dance) My profile got fixed, so now I can use the 'insert horizontal ruler' tool, it was just suddenly there on my toolbar!

* * *

Rika shuddered as the heavy gust of wind blew through her. Despite it being February, the weather was actually pretty mild. That is why she had only taken a light jacket with her; it was in the low seventies right now, which was far from cold. But every time the wind picked up, she regretted her choice of not taking her longer, thicker, and obviously much much warmer full length coat. She had been pressed for time though, she needed to talk to Jeri, and she wasn't sure how long it would take before her mother suddenly remembered and questioned her about the 'sleepwear' from earlier this morning.

Once upon a time, she wouldn't have minded the less than pleasant weather. She never exactly liked the cold, but she remembered having a higher tolerance for it back when she first started taming. As time moved on however, she found herself more and more inclined towards warmer weather, or at the very least higher temperatures. She had also developed a distinct dislike for the cold.

Rather than dwelling on the cold however, Rika's thoughts were more directed at what she was about to do. There were 'rules' that friends followed in life, and while most could be slightly tweaked or bent at one time or another due to various circumstances, there were a few that could not.

This was one of them.

"_How am I supposed to ask her….ugh, this tanks. Hey Jeri, how's it going? Good? That's great, hey I hope you don't mind, but I found out that you and Takato aren't going out any more, what happened?"_

Rika groaned.

Jeri was her friend, and even though she _knew_ that the girl was strong, she couldn't help but feel guilty at what she was about to do. She had questions; Jeri had answers, simple right? Unfortunately, she knew it would be more far more complicated. Rika was aware of the fact that sometimes people would 'take a break' from each other, and that this could very well be the case with them. She even knew that there was still a good chance that the two would make up in the near or not quiet so near future if that was not the case. But her head was buzzing and swimming with questions, and they would not go away until her curiosity was sated. As it stood, only two people knew what had happened, and Takato wasn't talking.

That left Jeri.

"_Why do I even care? It's not like I…" _Rika shook her head to clear away _that_ thought. _"No way am I falling for Gogglehead, I'm just worried about two of my friends, and I want to make sure everything is aright with them. Yeah, that's it, they're my friends! So of course I should be worried about them."_ Smiling, Rika accepted this as the answer for why she was here now, and pushed any other possibilities to the back of her mind, back into the closet from which they came.

Looking up, Rika saw that she had arrived, and that Jeri was already there waiting for her.

Chuo's Namiyoke Inari Shrine was one of the Tamer's 'other' meeting places, though it was rarely used. The small shrine was closer to Jeri and Rika than the others, so usually they were the only ones to meet up here. It was fairly secluded, so it offered privacy, and unlike the hideout at the park, Hypnos didn't know they met here, so it was safer to discuss 'certain' topics freely.

"Good morning Rika!" Jeri called out waving happily.

"_Ugh, great, she's happy. Now I feel even more guilty. Can this day get any worse?"_ Rika thought as she plastered a small fake smile and waved back to her friend.

The two entered the small courtyard and seated themselves on the shrines steps, using the building the shield them from the cold winds. Even though Jeri had on a much thicker coat, Rika remembered that the girl had also had a lower tolerance for the cold than she did. Still, she was thankful that they were out of the wind as her brunette friend was.

Jeri leaned back with her elbows against the top step, letting the sun shine down on her face, smiling warmly and waited. Sighing, Rika plopped down a little ways away from her like a sack of potatoes.

Roughly a minute passed without either party speaking, Jeri just waited with her eyes closed while Rika felt her conscience slowly gnaw away at her.

"I'm sorry Jeri….I…think this was a mistake. Sorry I wasted your time," Rika said softly as she rose up to leave.

Her movement was halted by a soft, yet still firm grip on her forearm.

"You said that it was important…and if it's frightened you this badly, it must be." Rika was surprised by the amount of worry in her friends voice, adding even more guilt to her already heavy mind.

"Please, just take your time, and talk when you feel like it ok?"

Rika swallowed the lump in her throat. She wanted to snicker, laugh, or do ANYTHING to break the silence and deny Jeri's claim, but she couldn't because it was true. In the last few years, Jeri had developed the uncanny ability to know just how far to push a person, she knew what buttons to push to get whatever the desired reaction was, and she was able to do so effortlessly. When you combined that with the girl's nearly limitless patience, the result was always the same.

Her questions getting answered.

The only differing factor was how long it took for the person to spill.

Settling back on the steps, Rika took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had so many questions, so much was tugging at her that she didn't even know where to begin.

"Is it about Ryo?" Jeri inquired suddenly.

Rika shot her friend a confused look, which she barely registered and continued.

"Ok then, if it's not about Ryo, then it must be about Takato."

Seeing Rika flinch ever so slightly, Jeri nodded her head to herself in affirmation.

"I don't know what you're talking about Jeri, why would I be asking you anything about Gogglehead?" Rika defended.

Jeri smiled warmly, and Rika could feel her icy edge literally melting away.

"_Curse you Jeri, how do you do that?!"_

"You never have problems with your grandmother, and when you're having problems with your mother you go to her. Since your coming to me, it can't be about family. That only leaves Ryo or Takato since you handle the others on your own."

Rika frowned.

"Am I that easy to see through?"

Jeri giggled at her friend's sour expression. "No, you're actually harder to see though than Ryo, I just know you well enough is all," she replied carefully.

Rika sighed and leaned back. She was caught and she couldn't run away, she knew it. But that didn't mean she was going down without a fight.

"Soooo, what seems to be the problem? Did he do or say something stupid?"

Again, Rika answered her friend with silence.

"Ok, so it's not that….did he forget about something important?"

Still no response.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if you just told me what the problem is. I'm going to get it out of you eventually, you know that right?"

Rika grunted in response.

"Sheesh, you're worst than Takato. At least he's brave enough to ask for help," Jeri said with a snort as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey! It's not like that! I'm not a coward ok! I just don't want to hurt you!" Rika's eyes widened as Jeri's mouth pulled into a smug grin.

"Told you I would find out eventually," Jeri said cheekily as she scooted closer to her friend.

Rika was mentally slamming her head into the ground for having fallen for such and old and obvious trick, so she was a bit surprised to see her friend so close to her when she looked back up.

"If this is what I think it's about, then your answer is no." Jeri said simply and firmly with a nod.

Rika quirked an eyebrow at her friends response.

"No? What do you meant no? No what?"

Jeri's smile became slightly sad, but it was quickly covered with a familiar joyful sparkle in her eyes.

"No, as in I don't mind you asking him out of course."

Rika's eyes widened up into her hairline and she felt the air get knocked out of her lungs like she had just been sucker punched in the gut.

"What the heck Jeri!? Ask him out! Are you out of your mind!?" Rika shouted, though she didn't notice it (Jeri did however) her ears were bright red.

"Well, what else _could_ it be about? His birthday is months away, so it can't be you needing help with a present for him, and there's nothing I would know about him that you cant get from any of the others," Jeri stated with a shrug.

".. To date. Gogglehead!" Rika shouted leaning closer to her friend so that their noses touched, looking her straight in the eyes.

"_Oh crud, I forgot about that,"_ Rika cringed as she watched her friend's soft brown eyes suddenly turn sharp and calculating. She could see them moving side to side like she was reading something, which in this case, was 'the book of Rika'.

"Rika…you…don't know what you want…do you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"_Her eyes, she's confused and frightened…I've never seen her look this uncertain about anything before. She looks like she's completely lost,"_ Jeri thought sadly.

It would have surprised anyone to find out, but Jeri had actually been expecting this conversation for quite some time. As the years passed, she waited, and waited, but she never dismissed it, this was something she knew _was_ coming, just not _when_.

Taking a deep breath, Jeri carefully reached out and held her friend's hands tightly in her own. Rika was strong, but this was going to hit one of her few 'weak points'.

"Rika, look at me," Jeri ordered. Her voice was calm, but it carried an undertone of strength that startled the Digimon Queen.

"I'm going to say this once, and only once ok?"

Rika nodded slowly, sensing impending doom just around the corner.

"Rika, you, like, Takato, a lot, and you have for a long time."

Feeling something click, and something else shatter in the back of her mind, Rika sat before her friend in stunned silence.

* * *

"_Nothing to do with taming? That doesn't make any sense at all,"_ Renamon thought as she leapt over several rooftops without breaking stride. Ryo had been of little if any use in answering her questions, which only left two other possibilities. Her sense of duty was berating her for leaving Rika alone for such an extended period of time, but she also knew that both she and her Tamer were seeking the answer to this question.

"_As much as I hate to admit it though, he's right."_

Renamon jumped from one rooftop and flipped several times before landing onto the next one in her path. For her, acrobatics was as natural as breathing. Thankfully this allowed her to focus on the matter at hand rather than where she was going.

"_Before meeting the others, Rika and I had defeated several Champion digimon, and according to Takato, at the time when we first met, Guilmon was only two days old."_

Leaping again, Renamon thought back to the early days of the Tamers, back when it had been only Rika, Takato, and Henry. The three were very different from each other, but they worked as an effective team. Takato was a very fast learner, between Henry's gentle guidance, and Rika's pushing him along, it hadn't taken long for the boy to find his feet.

"_Huh, Rika was helping make him stronger even then, strange."_

Soon after the D-Reaper incident, and after everything had started to calm down. Rika slipped into a bit of a rut. She had her friends, and the bond between she and her mother had never been stronger. But both Renamon and Seiko could see it in her pale violet eyes. Something was bothering her, eating away at her core.

The day Henry asked if Rika would mind teaching his younger sister Suzie, this issue was brought to light.

She had flat out refused to teach the young girl, and though not trying to be mean, she actually made her cry, which in turn caused the older girl to reveal the source of her fears.

Rika had been a championship player for three years running, placing in the top two at every event. But she had never taught anyone how to play before. She taught herself, and she spent most of her free time bettering herself. The pointers she gave to Takato were one thing, but to take someone under her wing and teach them was something new to her.

So when Jeri came to the guys asking for someone to teach her, Rika, feeling confident in her skills as a teacher decided to give it a shot and help her friend out.

Two weeks later, Leomon was ruthlessly cut down by Beelzemon.

That one event had caused ripples within the Tamers far beyond the initial damage. Takato became almost obsessed with protecting everyone, nearly resulting in his own death several times. Henry began to question his instincts and judgment, his greatest asset to the team. And Rika had lost confidence that she was a good teacher, after all, just because you're good at something doesn't mean you can teach it to others.

Surprisingly, it was Takato who 'kick started' Rika out of her funk. Reminding her that Leomon's death was in no way her fault, and who she was, Takato convinced her to face her fear and to try her hand at training another once more.

The result was one of the finest Tamers the world had ever seen. Under Rika's tutorage, Suzie had matured quickly while still keeping her core personality intact. In only three weeks, Suzie and Lopmon were able to fight against Ultimates on their own with only minor difficulty. There had been a scare with LadyDevimon, but that was quickly put to rest. Some months later, the proof of Rika's hard work came to light.

An outbreak in Wild Ones had stretched the Tamers apart. They were only Champion levels, but there were too many to count. Then, while the Tamers were busy fighting the horde of Champions, a Mega Bioemerged.

Suzie was the only one not currently fighting, having been held back in reserve, so she was the only one close enough to reach it before the Biofield dissipated. Ignoring both her brother and Takato's orders, Suzie and Lopmon charged in.

By the time the others arrived, they found a roughed up Suzie who had several tares in her clothes resting beside an obviously exhausted Lopmon, who was using her ears as a makeshift pillow for the two of them.

The Mega was nowhere in sight.

Landing on the next roof, Renamon reflected back to before that time, back to the early days, searching for some clue that would suddenly make everything make sense.

"_What happened?"_ Running their first encounter through her mind like a streaming video, Renamon watched it over and over, listening intently to every word spoken, and watched every movement between the two like a hawk.

"_I…don't see it. What am I missing? It has to be something small, something subtle that I'm overlooking."_

Coming to a stop, Renamon looked around for the familiar yard of her next destination.

"Looking for som'um toots?"

Moving only her eyes, Renamon looked over to the source of the voice.

"_Just the mon I was looking for."_

* * *

Jeri watched as her friends face went from bright red to a curious shade of purplish red.

"You're crazy!" Rika shouted as she yanked her hands free and jumped up like she had been stung.

Not moving from her spot, Jeri simply waited.

"I don't even know what gave you that idea! Its nuts, it…it sounds like something Ryo or Terriermon would say!"

Rika paced before her friend throwing out denials, rants, and the occasional curse. Through it all Jeri waited patiently. This actually wasn't as bad as she had expected it to be.

"I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"_That's my cue."_

"Unfortunately, that's not only true, it's the problem," Jeri said with a sad sigh.

That stopped Rika dead in her tracks.

"What?"

Looking up at her friend, Jeri could see that she had been caught off guard. Defiance was radiating from her in droves, but she could see just the tiniest hint of skepticism in her eyes.

"_Good, that means she'll at least listen to me."_

"Rika, you're smart, strong, and the best friend a person could ever hope for." Seeing her ease up slightly, Jeri 'dropped the bomb'.

"But you're completely clueless when it comes to matters of the heart."

"What!?"

Not breaking the lock she had on her friends eyes, Jeri continued.

"You grew up cramming your emotions into some dark little hole in the back of your mind Rika. The only ones you ever let yourself feel were anger and occasionally grief. Fear can't be locked away, but I only remember seeing it leak out a few times so that's also an issue. You might be sixteen physically, but emotionally you're younger than Suzie."

Rika gaped as her friend continued.

"You're a HUMAN BEING Rika, A HUMAN. You think that just because you're strong you don't have feelings? I was there when Locomon attacked, I was there when you rescued Calumon from the D-Reaper, I was there when you called out to warn Takato about Beelzemon, and I was there when we thought we would never see any of the digimon again. You've kept your emotions bottled up for so long that you don't even know what they are when you feel them anymore."

Grinding her teeth, Rika was about to 'return fire' but Jeri just ran her over and kept going.

"You're strong, stronger than me and the others in a lot of ways, but here, you have no ground to stand on. I know about your father, and believe me, I _know_ your pain, so don't think for a second that I'm condemning you or judging you, because I'm not. I'm telling you this because I want to help you."

Shutting her mouth, Rika crossed her arms. It wasn't much, but it told Jeri that she was 'waiting' for her to continue.

"Like I said before, you like Takato, quite a bit I'm afraid," Jeri said with a small giggle as she noticed her friend's ears turning red again.

"But at the same time, you're afraid, and you don't know what to do. So instead of risking everything by trying, or moving on from him to someone else and loosing everything, you choose the third option and do nothing, choosing not to risk anything."

"Woah, waoh, hold the phone. Who said anything about me being afraid?" Rika demanded.

"Yet you don't deny liking Takato? So your fear is stronger than your pride, that's actually a good thing, it'll make things much easier."

Eyes ablaze, Rika spun to face her now smiling friend and shot her with her strongest glare, which Jeri ignored like an annoying infomercial.

"I told you that I would get it out of you eventually. You would have saved us a lot of time if you just came out and said it," Jeri said with a sing a song voice.

Rika slumped a bit, but kept her arms crossed.

"So what, it's not like it matters. I'm not the one he's got eyes on, _you_ are," Rika muttered darkly.

For a brief moment, pain flashed across Jeri's face. Rika was surprised to see it, knowing full well that Jeri was almost as good at hiding her emotions as she was. That's when she realized it.

"_She wanted me to see that! But why? Why would she want me to see-"_ Before she could finish the thought, Jeri spoke, and shattered every presumption she had.

"No…he doesn't Rika. His eyes are on you, not me, just like they've always have been."

Looking at her friend is disbelief, Rika was surprised to see that same pained expression she had moments before.

"_She's….telling the truth? That's why she let me see it, so I would know she's being honest…but…Takato…likes Jeri right? He always has…not me…"_

Jeri let out a tired and sad sigh before patting the spot next to her. Not knowing what else to do, Rika found her body moving on its own accord and sat down next to her friend silently.

"Rika, Takato might have at one time felt something for me…but…he's always felt something towards you, even before he and I became friends." Jeri paused for a moment to gauge her friend's reaction. She could see disbelief was still the most powerful emotion running across her eyes, but mingled with it were confusion, fear, and just a tiny flicker of hope.

"When I first met Guilmon, Takato told me that I was the third person, and the second girl not to be afraid of him. He didn't say much about you at the time, but he did say that I reminded him of you when I didn't show any fear."

Scoffing, Rika rolled her eyes. "Of course I wasn't afraid, I was a Tamer before he was, I still don't see what this has to do with-" again, Jeri cut her off.

"After I got my D-Arc, he said that it was cool that another of his friends had become a Tamer, and that he was sure one day I would be just as strong as you," Jeri continued. Her voice wavered slightly at the mention of Leomon, but it didn't stop her, if anything, it fueled her on.

"When everything was over, and the D-Reaper had been destroyed, Takato was nice enough to….help me."

It struck Rika as odd that her friend was rubbing her wrists nervously, almost bashfully as she spoke, but her attention was mostly fixated on her friends face. Pain and sorrow were easy to see, but there was also happiness and joy, but for one moment, she caught a bitter expression she recognized plain as day.

"When he was helping me, he would tell me stories about what you, he and Henry did as Tamers before everyone else joined. I had heard the stories before, but I asked him to tell them to me anyway. They always made him so…happy, I could feel it coming from him, and I fed off it, kept myself going with it. His happiness and joy were what kept me going. But he was always happiest when he was talking about you…his eyes….they…they would almost shine whenever he said your name," Jeri said screwing her eyes shut for a brief moment.

Swallowing an uncomfortable lump in her throat, Rika watched her friend smile ruefully.

"He always said how thankful he was that he had you and Henry there to help him out. How Henry would teach him new combos or how to use a card he was unsure of, but you, you were different."

Turning to face Rika, Jeri's smile grew even larger. It was strange, her face showed expressions of joy and grief equal in strength as she spoke.

"You were his inspiration Rika, his reason to keep trying no matter how often or how badly he messed up."

Blinking, Rika pointed at herself and raised an eyebrow. "You're joking right?"

Jeri shook her head and snickered softly. "No, I'm not. He said that he wanted to be as strong as _you_, that he wanted to be as good as _you_, he STILL compares himself to you Rika, he still looks up to you as a goal to reach, someone that's always stronger than him."

"That's stupid! Takato _is_ stronger than I am! Everyone knows that the only person who would stand a chance of beating him anymore is Ryo!" Rika shouted before thinking even half of what she had just said.

"But to him, you're _still_ stronger than he is. That's why he's kept his distance I think," Jeri said tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Brow wrinkled in confusion, Rika groaned. "Stop talking in riddles Jeri, what are you talking about? So what if he thinks I'm some kind of goal to exceed, it doesn't mean anything other than he's stupid and blind to his own talent."

"Takato is _not_ stupid Rika, you know that better than anyone," Jeri bit back suddenly, causing Rika to hold up her hands in defense.

"Ok, ok, geeze, are you sure you're not a couple?" Rika teased.

With narrowed eyes, Jeri leveled her friend with a hard glare. "Stop trying to change the subject Rika, that's not going to work on me and you, know it."

When Jeri was sure that Rika had gotten the point, she continued.

"He's afraid….but…I don't think he realizes it. He cares a lot for you, but he doesn't think…he's good enough for you…" Jeri worded cautiously.

Scoffing again, Rika gave the brunette a look like she didn't know what she was talking about.

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard since Kazu became a Tamer. If he wasn't good enough to be my friend I wouldn't have let him get within ten feet of me, let alone inside my home."

Shaking her head again, Jeri took a deep breath.

"You know just as well as I do what Takato thinks of himself, and how it….causes problems sometimes. With me he feels safe, he knows that he doesn't have to try and impress me or be something that he's not. That's why….that's why he tried with me and not you."

Hearing a series of pops, Jeri looked up to see her friend cracking her knuckles angrily. It took her a moment, but she as soon as she figured out the problem she was quick to defuse it.

"It wasn't pity Rika! I swear! He really did feel that way for me at one time, he just felt safer with me, he didn't want to get hurt!"

If anything, Rika's face went from angry, to livid.

Seeing that she had just thrown Takato from then frying pan and into the fire, Jeri gathered her wits together to save her friend from what she knew would be a very painful experience.

"Rika, please, try to see it from his eyes," Jeri pleaded, hoping to reach her angered friend.

"Oh, I see it from his eyes alright! He chickened out and used you as a fall back! When I'm done with that coward he'll wish he was never born!" Rika snarled as she pushed herself off the steps.

Reacting faster than the eye could see, Jeri pivoted on her right hand and brought her legs around from behind Rika, knocking the angry redhead on her backside.

"I'm not finished yet," Jeri said coolly as though nothing had just happened.

Slightly stunned from being knocked on her back by Jeri, Rika quietly listened, too surprised to do anything else.

"He felt something for you, and then he developed feelings for me, but I was the one that showed interest back Rika, you didn't. He tried, _Kami_ he tried to get your attention, but you only reacted as a friend would have, so he didn't think you were interested in him that way. Since I at least showed interest in him, he tried to move on with me. Before he became a Tamer, Kazu and Kenta were his only friends, his _only_ friends. He knew that Henry would never leave him, but he was afraid that if he tried pushing things with you, that you would've left him. Just the thought of losing you as a friend scared him to death Rika, that's why he never tried after the D-Reaper; he didn't want to risk losing your friendship!"

Slowly, ever so slowly, Jeri watched as understanding began to show in Rika's pale violet orbs.

"He…but….no….that…."

"_That means….that means that this is all my fault! If I hadn't been so worried about my image back then, if I hadn't been so preoccupied with become stronger, I might have noticed, I might have had…NO!"_

A tender squeeze on her hand barely caught her attention as realization dawned on her. So deep where her thoughts that she didn't even notice as several tears fell free from her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

Her pride.

The very thing she had always thought to be the source of her strength, had in reality been responsible for her being alone for so long before meeting Takato, and it was the reason for her missing out on what could have been more.

Seeing Rika's silent tears, Jeri held out her arms and coxed her friend into a strong embrace. Hearing her cry, and feeling the hot tears falling across her neck, Jeri did what she always had when her brother had nightmares. Slowly rocking side to side, she whispered kind words of comfort to her friend who clung to her as if her life depended on it.

* * *

Renamon eyed the small purple imp carefully. As usual, he was smirking, but this time there was something…different, something almost knowing to it.

"So toot's, wha'cha need all the ways out here hm?" He asked before taking a bite from an apple.

"Why are you out here? Shouldn't you be down there with Ai and Mako?" Renamon asked teasingly. She didn't mean anything by it, but it was always fun to push the small digimon's buttons.

To her surprise, his smirk only grew, and he took another bite.

"Na, d'air granny's here, da old bat don do to good with me o'round, she acts like she thinks I'm gonna badda boom er or some'um. So I gots the day off. But why in the great name Dos might'n you be outs here? And..." Impmon's nose twitched several times before his grin grew even larger.

"And what's was yo do'ing hang'n round ol _Ryo_?"

If she was surprised, Renamon didn't show it.

"That is of no concern to you, it was a _small_ matter." The comment had the desired effect, and she watched as a small red tick mark appeared on the imps head.

"Hey! Not my fault I'm short, its part o what makes me whose I am, like you always beaten o round da bush like it's gonna bite you oar some'em!"

Sighing, Renamon closed her eyes, and tried to think of how she was going to do this. If she asked to wrong way, she knew he would just start teasing her and she would get nowhere. He was never able to 'get to her' but he did frustrate her on more than one occasion.

"It's….about Rika."

Stopping in mid rant, the small digimon blinked.

"Som'm wrong with DemiZhuqiaomon eh?" Impmon asked with a raised eyebrow as he took another bite from his apple.

"_I don't like this; he's acting far more cocky than usual. He's up to something, or he's got something up his sleeve."_

"Why are you acting so…different?" Renamon asked carefully.

With one last bite of his apple, Impmon rubbed his now full belly and grinned. "Hmm, that's was good. Been ages since I had me a little snack."

Not one to be ignored, Renamon narrowed her eyes.

"But youse know what I like more dan a good snack?" Impmon asked, his face suddenly adopting a mischievous look with an all too familiar glint in his eyes.

"_He's not bluffing; he really does have something up his sleeve."_ Renamon thought, now thoroughly alarmed.

"I wuv me a good nap, specially in a nice. Tall. Bunk. Bed."

Renamon's eyes widened by a millimeter, but Impmon still caught it.

"Yeah, mazing what one'll see when out fors a midnight stroll eh toots? Shooten stars, pwetty stars, and all kinds o people. Tall, short, big, skinny, brunettes, _redheads_, going all overs the place."

Looking at the small digimon, Renamon remembered just who it was she was dealing with, _Imp_mon, the Rookie form of _Beelze_mon.

"Yep, you nevers know what you might see," Impmon said with his trademark grin as he pulled another apple from seemingly nowhere, and held it out to her.

"Apple for ya thoughts?"

* * *

Pulling herself together, Rika gave Jeri one last tight squeeze before letting go. For a solid five minutes, she had cried until her eyes hurt, and Jeri did nothing but hold her and reassure her the entire time.

"Feel better now?" She asked gently as she released her friend and pulled away from her.

Her voice cracking, Rika shook her head.

"NO! Of course I'm not ok!"

Jeri smiled halfheartedly. "I had to ask, you know that right?"

Rika snorted. "It's still a stupid question."

Though she didn't say it aloud, Jeri agreed. Whoever thought of that question was dumber than a bag full of hammers.

"At least now you have a chance though. You just have to do it," Jeri said pumping her fist in the air confidently.

Rika's head lowered.

"Its not like I have a chance Jeri, he's still ga-ga over you. I see it every time you two are together. The way he holds your arm, the way her looks at you. He loves you Jeri, even a blind person can see that," Rika said bitterly.

"That's…not what I see Rika, and I'm there when it happens," Jeri replied sadly. Seeing Rika's confused expression, Jeri slid beside her.

"He loves me, that is true, but he…feels responsible for me, like he has to protect me at every turn. He holds my arm because he thinks that I still need his strength to keep going, and when he looks at me, his eyes hold fear, concern, and love in equal parts. That's not what I want from him, that's not what I want from anyone, that's why…I told him what I did."

"_Fear and concern? That doesn't make any sense. Jeri's as tough as the rest of us, she can take care of herself just fine. Why would Takato be afraid about anything with her?"_

"What…did you say to him?" Rika asked uncomfortably.

Clinching her left hand into a fist, Jeri absentmindedly started rubbing her wrist again.

"I told him…I was grateful for everything that he did for me, for being there…for saving….for helping me so much. I told him that I loved him like a brother, and that I would always think of him as family…that he was in my heart, right along with the rest of my family," Jeri answered sadly.

"But…if you loved him, why would you say that?" Rika asked, now even more confused than before.

Jeri turned to face her, and shocked Rika with the sheer emotional power flowing from her eyes.

"Because, I want someone to love me and see me as who I _am_, not for someone to see what I once _was_. Takato helped me through more than I can even try to explain. He was a shoulder for me to cry on, he was a strong arm that held me up, a supportive friend that keep me happy, and will always be my hero, for both times he saved my life."

Seeing Rika's confused expression, Jeri remembered that Rika, like the others, couldn't have known.

Rolling up her sleeve, Jeri held out her left arm with a rueful expression.

"You've never seen it, I know, no one outside my family, Takato, or two others have," Jeri said quietly.

Rika looked at her friends pale white arm. At first she didn't see anything, but when her eyes reached the wrist and forearm, she caught sight of a pale, obviously old, jagged scar.

"JERI! You tried to-"

"NO! Kami no Rika, nothing like that," as she spoke, Jeri rolled down her sleeve calmly and tucked her left arm under her right. "My parents took my brother to see a show, and I stayed behind to catch up on some cleaning." Shuddering, Jeri looked back up at her friend. "I was just washing a few dishes…and…I dropped a glass."

Rika watched Jeri's face turn down and her face become hidden beneath her long bangs.

"The glass went everywhere and it made me jump...I…I guess some of the water got on the floor, but I didn't see it at the time, I was just so worried about getting up the glass that I tripped."

Rika blinked, and figured out what had happened.

"You fell on the glass didn't you?"

Jeri nodded.

"I hit the ground so hard that it knocked me out, I didn't even feel when my arm landed in the glass," Jeri answered sadly.

Not sure of what to do or how to react, Rika remained silent.

"When I came too…Rika…there was so much blood, it made me sick, I could barely move, and…I was cold…so very cold," Jeri said with a shudder before continuing. "I was lucky, Takato came by to surprise me…I guess I surprised him though," Jeri said with a bitter laugh.

"But it was an accident right?" Rika asked sharply.

Jeri looked back to her friend with a hurt expression. "Of course it was an accident; I was never _that_ far down Rika. But, all the same, it ruined anything that might have been between us, at least for me. It scared Takato so much that he wouldn't even let me out of his sight for days, and after that he treated me like I was made of glass. I know he cares, but it's just so frustrating that he can't move past that one accident! I'm not a porcelain doll!"

Rika was taken back by the resolve in Jeri's voice. She was still reeling from finding out about this, the fact that they hadn't told her or the others stung like dagger to the back.

"But…"

Looking up, Rika felt her heart clinch at Jeri's expression. So much pain should never be seen on anyone's face, no matter who they were, let alone Jeri.

"I still love Takato, and I always will. I know it's selfish, but I want to have, I want to look into someone's eyes and not see that fear, that pain. I don't want to relive that moment ever again, and I don't want to make him relive it ever again."

Seeing Jeri turn to focus on her, Rika suddenly felt like her problems were very small in comparison.

"You were first Rika; he cared for you before he did for me. Please, will you give him a chance? Just one?"

Biting her lip, Rika felt her resolve crumbling, but her pride, the source of her pain was still fighting, refusing to accept defeat.

"That…I can't do that Jeri. If you love him, why don't you try again? Show him that you aren't going to fall apart if he's not there every minuet, show him that you're strong and can take care of yourself."

Jeri shook her head. Even in such a dark mood as this, the girl's inner strength was burning brightly.

"No, it's because I love him that I won't put him through that. Besides, you…you would be better for him I think."

Running out of arguments, Rika hit the 'panic' button.

"You're joking right? How could I possible be better for him? You said yourself that he's scared of me, that's not exactly a good way to start off a relationship. You're kind, strong, smart, beautiful, any guy would be lucky to have you."

Not backing down, Jeri fired back.

"You're all those things too…well, your kindness is only towards those you care about, but its still there," Jeri half joked before continuing.

"But…there are things I can't do for him, things that I cant be….things that he needs."

Rika again warily raised an eyebrow, asking for clarification.

Turning slightly pink, Jeri stuttered.

"No-no-nothing like that! You've been around Kazu and Kenta too much!" Jeri shouted as she regained her composure.

"Hey, you said it, not me," Rika replied flatly.

'Glaring' at her friend, Jeri spoke.

"I meant that he needs help Rika. I can help you guys out some when it comes to Taming, but even with my D-Arc being linked to Beelzemon, I can't always be there for him. I can be his friend, I can be confident, heck, I can even be his caretaker when he gets banged up, but that's not what he needs."

Again, Rika was surprised by her friend's firm tone. These were not 'thoughts' these were 'beliefs'. She didn't think these things, she _knew_ them.

"So what? You're saying he needs a babysitter or something?" Rika asked grudgingly.

"No, I'm saying that he needs a partner. Someone that can watch his back, someone that will protect him while he's out there fighting. Even when I had Leomon….I couldn't do that. I could only help him. But you, _you_ can stand beside him, you can fight with him."

"Hey! I'm not going to watch his sorry butt all day! I'm not a nurse or his mother!"

Jeri giggled at her friend's reaction.

"I never said you were. And besides, he would be doing the same for you. You two make a better pair than either of you with anyone else. Your strengths fill in each others weakness on the battlefield. Gallantmon is stronger, tougher, and able to fight longer; Sakuyamon is faster and more adaptable. Henry and Ryo can work with anyone, but they do better by themselves when they don't have to worry about hurting a friend on accident."

The more Jeri spoke, the more Rika felt her pride getting cornered. It was losing ground, but it wasn't beaten yet.

"Still doesn't give me a reason to ask him out or anything. Why should I give him a chance when he's chickened out for the last four years?" Rika demanded.

Instead of giving up, Jeri pushed back. She could tell that this was Rika's fear and pride working against her, but for the sake of her friends, she was not about to give in. She knew Rika was running out of excuses when she started shifting problems towards others.

"Because you want him, and because he wants you. You've helped and healed each other more than the rest of us have for either of you. If you hadn't run into Takato, he would only have Kazu, Kenta, Henry and me as his friends, without you, he never would have been able to tap into his courage and become as strong as he is now. And without him, you would still be a cold, lonely, spiteful little girl with a big chip on her shoulder and a grudge against the world. I've talked to your mother and grandmother Rika, and you know what both of them told me?"

The young red haired Tamer felt her blood run cold.

"_Mom and grandma know about this?!"_

"They told me that the day your father left, was the day you stopped smiling. I've seen the pictures to prove it, I even looked up some pictures for the tournaments you went to, and even the tournaments you won after Ryo disappeared, you never once smiled, not once. Even after my mother died…even after my father remarried, I was still able to smile Rika, I was still able to enjoy living. You didn't, you stopped living."

Her emotions flaring, Rika lashed back.

"What do you know?! Your father never walked away from your family! You never had someone just willingly leave you like you were yesterday's garbage!" Rika hissed.

"No, but I do know what its like to lose the center of your universe, I know what it's like to lose the one person that means more to you than anyone else. I've felt it twice, unless you've forgotten," Jeri replied calmly.

Rika's anger was cut short, and her new found source of energy vanished as shame washed over her.

"That's why I'm asking you to do this Rika, because I don't want you to go through that again…and because I don't want to lose another important person in my life, I cant take that a third time."

Eyes wide, Rika's head turned to Jeri so fast it gave her whiplash.

"What?!"

With sad eyes and a grimacing expression, Jeri looked Rika directly in the eye as she spoke.

"I told you, I love Takato, but I can't protect him, and if he's always worried about protecting me, I'm afraid that something will happen to him, I'm afraid that I'll lose him too."

"_She…she loves him…so much…that she's willing…she's willing to give him up just to make sure he will be safe?"_

"But why me Jeri? I mean-"

"There is no one that I trust more than you Rika, you're my best friend, and you're the strongest person that I know. That's why I'm asking you to do this, for Takato, for yourself, and for me. Keep him safe, we all need him, but he'll always throw himself in harms way if it means keeping any one of us safe. If you are there, you can keep him safe, you can protect him. All I would be able to do is treat his injuries and cheer him up afterwards. I can't do a single thing for him when it comes to direct fighting."

Link by link, Rika was able to feel the last anchor holding her back loosen.

"I want him safe, and I want him happy, and as long as he is, I will be happy too. From one friend to another, will you do this for me? Keep our Gogglehead happy and safe?" Jeri asked with a small smile.

Feeling the tug of doubt in the back of her mind, Rika's fear made one last play.

"Jeri…what you're asking…it's….it's too much. I can't do that." She felt sick to her stomach, never, not once in her sixteen years of life had she ever played the coward card. It left a vile taste in her mouth, but it was the last card she had left to get out of this, to run away from this situation. Seeing Jeri sigh, she thought that she had gotten away, literally by the skin of her teeth.

She thought wrong.

"I'll make a deal with you. If you ask him out, or allow him to ask you out, and prove to me that you did, I will tell the others about what happened. Not everyone, just Henry, Ryo, Kazu and Kenta. I don't want to frighten Suzi, Ai, or Mako. But if you're willing to face your fear, I'll face mine, I swear it on Leomon's honor," Jeri said as she stood before her friend holding out her hand.

Swallowing nervously, Rika tried to think this through. She was now completely cornered and had no other options left. Her pride had been stripped away from her and her fear was now in a deadlock with her guilt and honor. It was do or die.

Jeri watched closely as her friend battled with herself, the war between her emotions playing across her eyes. Familiar emotions that had ruled her for so long were now losing ground to newer, _stronger_ emotions. Even though the new comers fueled her fears, Jeri could see that they were holding out and not willing to giving up or back down.

"_She's frightened of what might happen, but at the same time, her want of him is fighting back with just as much force as her fears. I just wish there was some way to give her that one last push."_

Watching, and waiting, all Jeri could do was hope.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Rika clinched her fist, and with a growl, thrust out her hand, grabbing Jeri's tightly.

Though they didn't know it, at that very moment, both of them were thinking the exact same thing.

"_Thank you"_

* * *

Renamon waited for Impmon to continue, but when he didn't, she began to lose patience.

"Aw come on toots, don look so down, its bad fo wrinkles," Impmon teased.

"Impmon, if you are going to joke, then I am leaving. I thought you might be able to help, but I was obviously wrong," Renamon replied coldly as she turned to leave.

"Wo wo wo, hold ya Unimon dair, fine I'll stop sheesh. Some people just have no sense of humor you know dat?" Impmon said crossing his arms disappointedly.

Internally, Renamon was smiling that her ploy worked. Even if he did have leverage at the moment, his curiosity was his undoing, and as always, it would play him right into her paws.

"I have been trying to understand why Rika allowed Takato to become leader of the Tamers, and why she decided to follow him at all. It's been bothering me for some time."

Impmon's jaw dropped.

"Dats it? Dat's the reason youse pull de ol audios I'm outta here routine?"

Narrowing her eyes, Renamon gave the noticeably _smaller_ digimon a silent warning.

"Ok ok ok sheesh. Youse wanna know why red decided ta follow goggle boy? Probably de same reason as me. He wont t'afraid o her like everyone else was," he replied simply with a shrug.

"Excuse me?"

Sighing as he closed one eye, Impmon narrowed his second and his ears drooped.

"Look, its no secret, I aint exactly da easiest mon to get along with ya know?" Seeing Renamon nod, he continued. "Well, red's pwetty much da same ya know? She aint dat nice, kinda mean really, hard, mad at da world type. She's done got short changed in life, so she holds da world to da interest it owes er."

"I fail to see how this explains anything, other than you have insulted my Tamer, and seem to have a death wish," Renamon replied icily.

Gulping, Impmon continued from where Renamon had cut him off.

"Well, youse see, after a while…youse get…youse get lonely ya know? Push all da people away, an they start pushing back, den youse end up bum outta luck on ya own." Closing his eyes, Impmon took a deep breath.

"At fwirst, it aint so bad, ch'a tink that youse better off withoutta them all gumming up ya style. No body to tell ya what to do, no body to judge ya, and no body to hurts ya. But after a while longer, ya start getten a huwrt in ya chest ya know? Feels like dares dis big hole, an it keep on gettin bigger and huwrts ya mor and mor. Den, ya don't wrelly care what kinds o attention you getn, somten beddar den noten right?"

Running what he was saying over in her head, Renamon pieced together what he as trying to say.

"You're saying that…Rika was starved for attention?"

The small digimon shook his head.

"Na, not eggsactly, she wanted someone dat wont fraid o her. Getten ottention is easy, repeat customers, dats hard," he clarified.

"And why do you think that was the case?" Renamon pushed, it made some sense, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out where he came up with such an idea in the first place.

Smiling sadly, Impmon looked up at the tall yellow fox with one of his rare genuine honest smiles.

"I knows toots, cause er eyes was da same as mine. I knows that look good, been staring at it in da water for a long time b'fo coming here and meeten youse guys. It aint dar now, but it was den. She always had dis er um, bounce in er step round ol gogglehead ya know? Kinda made cha think she ad a lil some'm fo him." Impmon said with a shrug.

Renamon pondered over what Impmon had said and watched him switch feet, almost like he was trying to shrink under her scrutinizing gaze.

"Hey, I's gotta go, its getten near lunch time and I'se wanna eat. See yu round toots!" Impmon called out before jumping down off the fence and scrambling towards his tamer's home. By the time Renamon realized that he had left, it was too late to catch him.

"_I'll speak to him later, for his sake; he had better hope Rika never finds out that he knows about last night."_ Troubled, and still not completely satisfied with the answers she had been given, Renamon took off in the direction of her last stop of the day before returning to her Tamer.

End Chapter 2

AN: Ok, so this chapter took a long time to get up, I know, and I'm sorry, but its so important for my future work that I wanted to get it perfect, I rewrote the darn thing three times from the ground up, and I'm still not entirely satisfied with how it turned out. Now, some of you might think Takato was OCC here, but you have to realize that he is only sixteen, and to find anyone, especially someone you care about in that situation is terrifying, and it sticks with you for the rest of your life. Some might not agree with how I have Jeri in this chapter, or my later work, but my reasoning for how she is reacting is simple. She wants to be seen as an equal, and doesn't want Takato to always think of himself as having to protect her every minute of every day, she's very independent in my timeline, almost as much as Rika. She knows that Takato will only see her as the damsel in distress, so she's moving on with her life while trying to help him do the same.

So, liked it, loved it, hated it, despised it, please let me know. I realize that I just up and disappeared off the radar for a while, and I'm truly sorry about that, I have a lot of reading to catch up on, a lot of reviews to write, and many more chapters to churn out, so I ask that you please be patient and give me a little more time, I'll respond to ALL reviews I just need more time.

Till next time, Ja Ne!


	3. Revolution

Endless Waltz Chapter Three: Revolution

AN: Wow this is late lol. I had hoped to get this out weeks earlier, but I had a few snags here and there…and I had to go back and check on some things from the series (then rewrite sections that didn't fit with said series) and had to deal with the expected writers block that comes when you have a halfway decent story that people actually read. So, for those of you that have stuck by me, I thank you for waiting patiently, and I pray that this chapter proves to be worth the wait that you have endured. I WILL RESPOND TO YOUR REVIEWS!

* * *

Waving goodbye to her friend, Rika groaned the moment Jeri was no longer in sight.

"_Great, so where do I go from here?"_ She thought bitterly. Her mind was at war with itself, and she had been royally shaken to the core. Right now, knowing that Jeri wouldn't try to push her into anything was about the only comforting thing she had going for her.

On the one hand, she did feel as though an enormous weight had been lifted from both her shoulders and her heart. But on the other hand, she was no longer 'blissfully ignorant'. A small part of her actually wasn't at all surprised by the revelation Jeri had shown her. In a way, she had always known that she cared for the Tamers goggle wearing leader as more than a friend. But knowing in an instinctual sense, and genuinely realizing it were two _very_ different things. It felt like the base she had been standing on all this time had been shattered beneath her feet.

Not paying attention to where her feet were taking her, Rika settled herself for a walk, hoping to clear some of her thoughts, and come up with a 'game plan'.

"_Ok….so…"_ Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself as best she could. Just _thinking_ about this was difficult for her.

"_Come on Rika, what's wrong with you? You can do this! You've fought enemies that would have killed you without a second thought, you've fought creatures that could destroy the entire freaking world, so why is this so hard!? He's just a boy!"_ She chided herself.

A pang in her chest however told her otherwise.

"_No…that's…that's not…he's not just a boy…"_ Hanging her head limply, Rika's thoughts, though currently a swarming mass of chaos, were starting to take shape.

"_He's…my friend…my first and best friend."_ Clinching her fists in her pockets, Rika took another deep breath. It was hard, but little by little she was able to take control of her thoughts and emotions. For years she had focused on _suppressing_ her emotions, but as time passed that had become harder and harder to do. Right now was actually the first time she could remember not trying to completely force them down, but reel them in and control them.

Looking up, she noticed where she had wondered to.

"_Ugh, great,"_ was her only thought once she noticed the field of cherry trees surrounding her.

"_Kami, how long has it been since the last time I came here? Three years?"_ Images of her thirteenth birthday floated across her mind, along with an unexpected flood of emotions.

Again, she recognized anger, anger from having been tricked so many times in one day, anger from having to relive her most painful memories, in front of another person at that. But aside from anger, and a touch of sadness, there were several others. Some she recognized, but she could sense a few she didn't, or at least not at first.

When she remembered how hard Takato had tried to stop Locomon, and how creative he had actually been during those attempts, she was reminded of the first few times he had 'gotten it right' back when the Tamer's had first formed. It was akin to pride, but not exactly the same. She guessed it to be respect, or perhaps even admiration. Not that he hadn't earned it from her long ago, but this was more than just the ambient respect she usually gave him, it was stronger than that.

Then there was another one she recognized but rarely felt.

Generally, she was 'content'. Not happy, but not sad either. It was neutral, but leaning slightly more towards the positive side, at least after making her first few friends. But, there were times when she felt a sense of 'happiness'. Like when Renamon digivolved for the first time, or when they rescued Calumon. Yet, every now and then she would feel the same thing because of something Takato had done. His knocking the wind out of Jupi the other day being one of those rare instances. But that day three years ago, she felt it for a different reason, one she still didn't understand to this day.

To put simply, it was because he tried. He might have slipped and 'spoiled' her surprise party, but he was going to stick with her for the rest of the day anyways. He didn't have to, she could have gone off on her own and came back when the party was supposed to start, but he suggested they go watch the cherry blossoms. The point was, he was willing to take the time, knowing full well that he would have to put up with her foul mood and temperament, all for the sake of making her happy. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. Why someone trying to do something, even if they failed at it would make her happy was beyond her, but she had learned to accept it.

These she knew and had felt before, however, there were two others she felt from this flood that she never had, two that were _almost_ as strong as her anger.

The first came from the memory of when she begged him to let go of her hand. She knew that even though it would mean her death, if he held on he would have been pulled down with her and they both would have died. But when she felt his grip suddenly tighten, almost painfully instead of letting her go, she felt something she hadn't in a very long time.

Complete and total trust.

He had acknowledged that holding on to her would mean his death, and he still hadn't let go of her. Sure, over time she had come to trust the others little by little, but in that one act, Takato had earned her absolute trust. It was a strange feeling, one she couldn't put into words, but it was there. She knew that he was her friend, and that she could trust him to never _purposely_ do anything to hurt or anger her.

The second however, even she had to admit was more than just a little bit strange. It was almost like happiness, but it carried an undertone of something she could only describe as satisfaction. When the Parasimon invasion had begun, the Tamer's went into action just as they always had and always would. But there was something noticeably different about Takato during that short battle. Over the course of four years, she had seen Gallantmon fight many times, but she could only remember one other occasion where he had been so aggressive and fierce, and that was the day they took down the D-Reaper, more specifically, when he fought Agent Zero One. It was not an 'I have a job to do' or 'I must do this' kind of aggression. It was a 'you are doomed' aggression that promised only one of two things. Death, or a lifetime of running. She didn't know why, but to see him acting such a way for her sake made her feel special, important even.

As she reflected on the events of that day, from Takato's calling her in the morning, them working together on Locomon, the party and food afterwards, to her finding him and Renamon waiting for her well after sunset, she realized something.

"_I never actually thought about it before…but…that was my first…date…"_

Sitting under one of the numerous trees, Rika rested her head against the trunk, and closed her eyes, using every ounce of her will power to force down the pink tinge coloring her cheeks.

"_Why can't anything in my life ever be simple? Is that really too much to ask?"_

"_That's not the true problem right now though is it?"_ 'Jeri' asked her.

"_Oh great, it's you again. Why can't you just go away and leave me alone? I already admitted it,"_ Rika 'thought' spoke.

"_Admitted what?"_ 'Jeri' asked innocently.

"_You know what I'm talking about Jeri, I already admitted it once, and I don't need to do it again."_

Now inside of her mind, she could actually see Jeri shaking her head and wagging her finger.

"_No, you accepted it, that's not the same as admitting it. After all, you can accept that you are wrong about something, but does that mean that you admitted it?"_ 'Jeri' asked pointedly.

"…_.So what? I know it, that's good enough isn't it?"_

This time 'Jeri' face palmed.

"_Oi, this is like trying to explain trigonometry to Calumon. Look, if you don't admit it to yourself, you'll never be able to confront any of the bigger issues that WILL come later down the road. This will help you, I promise."_

Rika almost laughed.

"_A voice inside my head is making a promise?"_

"_I'm not really Jeri, you know that already. You're just projecting her voice and image in place of your own. Now stop beating around the bush and say it already!"_ Rika's eyes blinked open in surprise at 'Jeri's' tone.

"_Fine, if it will make you leave me alone. I…I like gogglehead. There, you happy now?"_ Rika asked with a snort.

'Jeri' rolled her eyes.

"_Wow, the only better admission I've heard than that was from a second grader. Come on Rika, you're seventeen for crying out loud! You can do better than that!"_

Once again, Rika could feel her face heating up.

"_Now, try it again, and this time use his actual __**name**__, unless you're afraid or something,"_ 'Jeri' prodded calmly.

Biting her lip, Rika squeezed her already shut eyes tightly. There was no way she was going to let some figment of her imagination get the better of her.

"_I…like…Ta…Takato."_

'Jeri' nodded once, and then grabbed her by the shoulders with both hands firmly.

"_That was good, but I know you can still do better. You're stronger than this, I know you are. Remember when you first biomerged with Renamon? Or when you saw Gallantmon trying to climb the D-Reaper? Think hard Rika, remember that feeling, that power you felt? Try to find it again, find it and grab onto it with everything you have."_

Watching the memories pass by her, Rika remembered all to well what Jeri was talking about. The day she had first biomerged, and the day she had given all of her power to Ryo had always stood out in her mind every time she and Renamon fought together. She remembered feeling something like a fire burning inside her, a fire that pushed her far beyond her normal limits. She had tried to reach it again and again, but had always come up short. It wasn't that she was weak, far from it, but she just couldn't reach that level of power. It was like comparing Gallantmon to Gallantmon Crimson Mode. Both were the same, but one was just vastly more powerful.

"_I remember being…afraid…afraid that he was going to die. But then why haven't I felt that much power when protecting the others? Even though Ryo gets on my nerves all the time, I still wouldn't want him to die. So why was it only…"_

In her mind, she could see thousands of white cords going in every direction. Some were thick, others were thin, but they all looked identical to one another.

"_When I thought he was going to die…I just…I felt this power, this…need to protect him. It was like I had to make sure he survived…no matter what. I wasn't going to let anything, or anyone stop me from protecting him."_

Remembering that Takato was going to jump into the ravine to try and save Calumon, then remembering how hard Gallantmon was fighting to hold off the swarm of Agents on his own, Rika remembered what she did, and why.

If the only way to stop Takato from jumping in was for her to do so first,

She would, and did.

If the only way to stop the D-Reaper was for her to give Ryo her power so he could destroy it,

She would, and did.

As she focused on feeling the warmth, the power she had those two times, she saw something. Tangled and buried deep within a mess of white cords laid a single, almost silk thin red thread.

"_Focus on it Rika, focus on that feeling, that desire to protect him. Remember that strength you felt,"_ 'Jeri' urged her.

Walking forward (in her mind) she reached out with one hand.

"_But…it's so thin. How could this be what gave me that strength?"_ Rika thought, puzzled at how anything so frail looking could do anything of importance.

"_It's thin because it hasn't had a chance to grow yet Rika. You locked it away and buried it deep within you, but it has still lent you its strength in your times of need. Stop fearing it, stop shunning it, let it help you."_

Closing her eyes, Rika did as 'Jeri' instructed her. Reaching out, she pushed her hand into the tangled mess of cords, and wrapped her grip as tightly as she could on the single red thread. The instant she pulled on it, she felt the rush of strength she had before, recognized the warm flame spreading across her from head to toe as the same one she had felt those two times in the past.

For the first time however, she realize what it was, what the thin red thread represented.

Opening her eyes, Rika looked up at the cherry three above her, and felt a lone tear fall from her eye and run down her cheek.

"I love him," she whispered to herself as her lips pulled back into a small, but genuine smile.

* * *

Standing atop a telephone pole, Renamon closed her eyes and focused her hearing as best she could.

"_Henry was not at home, so where could he be? His father said that someone had called early this morning, but he didn't say who or where he was going. The only logical possibility would be Takato…but why would he?"_ Snapping her eyes open, the thought that Takato might tell Henry about what had happened the previous night came to mind.

"_If he tells Henry one word…no…no, he wouldn't do that. Takato promised Rika that he wouldn't tell anyone what happened, and Takato has always kept his promises to Rika."_

Like her partner, Renamon was not the trusting sort. She knew people generally meant well, but she also recognized that they were imperfect and made mistakes from time to time, some more frequent than others. And even though Takato had proven to be a foremost example of making mistakes, he had proven himself to be a young man of his word. She had feared this might not be true after Kazu mentioned hearing that Rika could 'sing like a bird', but Gulimon had quickly confessed that it was he, and not Takato that had let that slip.

"_But if he's not going to talk about what happened yesterday, I wonder what would have been so important that he would have called this early in the morning?"_

Sifting through the various voices and noises of Shinjuku, Renamon's ears twitched when she picked up a familiar laugh.

"_I never thought the day would come that I actually wanted to hear that sound,"_ Renamon thought ruefully as she leapt from her perch and into the park.

* * *

Wiping the stray tear from her cheek, Rika's mind turned to focused on another issue, one that had been bugging her since Jeri had 'broken the news' to her earlier.

"_Ok, so I know that he…come on, I can do this…I know that he…likes me…but why?"_ Rika's face once again turned slightly pink. Her admission might not have seemed like much, but it was a big deal for her. To acknowledge that someone, a boy, liked her as something more than just a friend was a first for her.

"_I know I'm not the same person I was back then, but what did he see that made him…? Why did he put up with everything I did to him? He might…"_ Again feeling her cheeks heat up, Rika continued the thought. _"He might have thought I was…cute back then, but that wouldn't have been enough for him to stick his neck out for me as often as he did. He knew that I wanted Renamon to upload Gulimon at the time, but he still kept coming back."_

Taking a deep breath, Rika treated this like a card battle. She was facing an opponent she had never fought before, an opponent that knew everything about her, and who was running a deck full of cards she had never seen or heard of before.

In short, she was flying blind by the seat of her pants.

"_Ok, he might have been attracted to me, but my attitude would have crushed that after the second time we met. He couldn't have liked me for my attitude though because he didn't get the full feel for it until after several run ins so that's out. I know he wouldn't think that dream of his was some sort of' sign' because I _know_ he doesn't believe in fate or destiny. He couldn't have known, and probably still doesn't know that I'm more loaded than everyone thinks because my last name is Nonaka and not Hata like grandmas…So what does that leave? If it wasn't because of how I looked; acted, fate, or money, and I know 'love at first site' is nothing but drivel…what was it?"_

Running out of ideas, she tried to remember if anything had ever stood out about him in the past. She might not have known until just recently that he had feelings for her, but she should have noticed anything that seemed strange or at least out of place.

"_The only thing that even remotely stands out is that he seems to stare at my eyes whenever he talks to me, since the very beginning actually."_

It had unnerved her a bit at first since most people avoided eye contact with her at all costs. They would be looking at her face when she spoke to them, or at something behind her, but they never looked her directly in the eye.

One opponent several years back had even compared it to looking into an icy grave, or a dark bottomless pit.

But Takato, like with everything else in life, was different. He never showed any fear of her presence, and didn't seem to be the least bit put off to look her in the eye. Sure, he might have been intimidated by her attitude from time to time, but who wasn't?

"_It was almost like he could see something…or he was looking for something."_

Thinking it over for several minutes, Rika shook her head.

"_Does it really matter why? He's a good person, I know it. So does it really make any difference why he…liked me then? If he liked me then, and still does now, that should be enough right?"_

That thought hit her hard.

"_Is it enough? Is him liking me just for who I am enough to try…"_

"_Ok, let's do this the easy way. Pros and cons. What does Gogg…Takato have going for him? He's dense, hardheaded, naïve, runs on hopes and dreams…"_ In her mind, Rika saw an image of Takato's face, and felt more than just slightly ashamed for her thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, she tried again.

"_He's sensitive to others feelings, loyal to a fault, hopeful, and an optimist to the very end. He never gives up on anyone…even when they deserve it. He only looks at a person for who they are…not…how they were."_

Pulling her legs up to her chest, she rested her chin on her knees.

"_When we first met…he wasn't…angry with me for having Renamon attack Guilmon. He was worried about his partner, but…he didn't hold a grudge, even though I had Renamon blindside him for no good reason, he didn't hold it against me…why?"_

Thinking back to who she was, and how she had been, Rika shivered.

"_I can't believe I used to be like that…so cold, heartless…was I even human?"_ Memories of her second run in with the red eyed youth caused another shudder to run through her body.

"_I lead him into a trap, still only thinking about uploading Guilmon's data…but when Gargomon…"_ The memory of the gun toting bunny's first digivolution played across her mind. The one fleeting moment she thought was going to be the end for her, seeing the barrel raised at her face and turn with a _click_. She knew that there was nothing she could do.

She remembered Henry begging Terriermon to stop, but what surprised her the most was Takato ordering Guilmon to_ save her_, to stop Gargomon, the partner of his friend who had come to save him from _her_ in the first place.

"_Even though I attacked him twice, even though I had done nothing but attack him as an enemy, he risked his partner's life to save mine."_ That memory had plagued her for many a night, but nowhere near as badly as a stray through from a few months ago had.

"_Would I…would I have done the same thing? If our roles had been reversed, would I have risked Renamon's life to save him?"_ She knew that if that were to happen now, she would without a second thought; she would run in there herself to save the boy. But back then?

Her stomach twisted into a knot when she answered her own question.

"_No…I wouldn't have…I would have let him…I wouldn't have done anything…"_

It both pained and shamed her to admit, but it was the truth. Trust was still a very difficult thing for her. Ever since the day her father had walked out on her family, Rika stopped trusting others, not having faith in _anyone's_ word other than her own, _especially_ boys.

Thinking back of her other early encounters, Rika found herself becoming more and more amazed by her friend and how much he had put up with back then.

"_I threatened and tried to kill his partner multiple times, but he was never once afraid of me, and he never treated me as his enemy. When Icedevimon kidnapped me, he came to my rescue…"_ A feeling of revulsion bubbled up in her stomach when she remembered how she treated everyone after _that_ encounter, how she _thanked_ them for risking their lives to save hers.

Even her own partner.

That sparked another stray though, one she had thought of from time to time but never really gave much interest to before.

"_Huh…that's strange…how did Guilmon defeat IceDevimon back then? He hadn't had many battles under his belt, both were Virus types and IceDevimon was a Champion, Gulimon shouldn't have stood a chance against him."_

That thought caused several other odd memories to come to light. Gulimon was not exactly your average everyday run of the mill digimon, but his track record was an impressive one. Remembering what had happened onboard Locomon however made her eyes widen.

"_He defeated a Mega in one hit!"_

Parasimon might have been one of the weakest Mega's in all existence, but the fact remained that he _was_ a Mega, the final digivolution stage, the highest level of power one could reach.

"_IceDevimon… Parasimon …Gulimon defeated both of them with a single hit…and the only thing those two events had in common was…me?"_

The Tamer's knew that Digimon fed off of emotion, especially from their partners. That was why Renamon was only equal, and why Terriermon had been so weak compared to Gulimon in the beginning. Rika had locked her emotions away, denying Renamon a great deal of power, and Henry was a devout pacifist at first, also denying his partner the full extent of his true power.

But Takato? He went in at one hundred percent from the very beginning.

She remembered how after some time had past, when there partners were able to reach the stage of Ultimate, both she and Henry were able to feel what their partners felt. Every blow and every hit. But Takato had been able to do this for far longer than they had, even going back to when Gulimon was only able to reach his Champion stage, proving the strength of their emotional bond.

"_Was Gulimon able to defeat them so easily because of Takato's emotions?"_ Feeling her cheeks turn an even darker shade of pink, Rika forced that thought to the back of her mind and focused back on the current issue.

"_I attacked him, he saved me. I insulted and belittled him; he came to me for advice and help. I threaten him, and he tries to be my friend? How the heck did that happen?"_

No matter what she did, and no matter how hard she pushed to goggle wearing boy away, he just kept coming back like a boomerang. It actually seemed like the harder she threw him away, the faster he would come back.

"_I even let him inside my home?! What was I thinking!?"_ Remembering that day made her face turn bright red. She thought she had done a bang up job of tearing down any confidence or stand the boy had and would send him packing for good, but instead he somehow went from being outside in a back ally with her mocking him to sitting on her back porch talking to her like they were long time friends.

Then, there was that one oh so faithful comment.

"_It's not every day you get to meet your dream girl."_

Burying her face as hard as she could into her knees, Rika could do nothing to stop the atomic blush that was staining her cheeks.

Her act of bravado might have spooked him into keeping his mouth shut all this time, but the second he had left she turned a shade of red that would have made a tomato jealous.

Even though she was the daughter of a well known model, she certainly didn't look like one, not then, and not now in her opinion. So, while she might be a rough and tough tomboy on the outside, she _was_ still very much a girl, and being called someone's 'dream girl' was about the same as being called pretty.

And that was one thing that _no one_ outside of her family had called her, even down to this day.

"_Oh Kami, please don't tell me that's why I went down in the storm drain to help him save Guilmon!? Was I really that…ugh!"_

Thinking back, she tried to remember that day as clearly as possible. It had only been four years ago, but so much had happened since then that it was hard to remember the exact details.

She remembered blushing up a storm after he left and staring at a mirror for a good long while after she came back from threatening him, but why had she gone with him that night?

"_I…remember…something…it…was more like my body was moving on its own. When he asked for my help…I was thinking about him…I was thinking about when he had Gulimon save me from Gargomon…and that he had never tried to get back at me for attacking him…then when I looked up, I was there, standing in the doorway. The only thing that snapped me out of my thoughts was when he called out to me."_

"_Rika! You came! That's awesome!"_

Rika's eyes widened at that. A tiny piece of her conversation with Jeri flittered into her mind.

"_But he was always happiest when he was talking about you…his eyes….they…they would almost shine whenever he said your name."_

Forcing her mind to go through every memory she had of interacting or just being around Takato, she was stunned by the sheer number of times he had said her name.

"_With the others it's always 'hey', but with me…he always calls out my name first, every time he see's me."_

It did strike her as just a tad bit odd, but it was true. She had heard him call her by name far more times than anyone else, including Jeri.

"_My…name…me..."_

Feeling a slight tug on her lips, she allowed herself a small smile.

* * *

Renamon jumped down from the tree branch and landed without making a sound. But, just as she had expected, she was already known.

"Hey Renamon," Henry greeted without even bothering to look over his shoulder.

"You do know that there _are_ other ninja type digimon aside from me correct?" Renamon asked, slightly bristled at the boy having sensed her.

Looking over his shoulder, the teen smiled. "Yeah, but I knew it was you. I heard you land in the tree back before you jumped."

Renamon frowned slightly.

"Those sounds could have been imitated."

Henry shook his head, his smile not changing in the least.

"I would have noticed the difference. Still, what brings you to our little neck of the woods? Rika's not up for rotation this week, so it can't be guard duty. Something up?"

Eyeing him carefully, she decided to call his bluff.

"Yet your name is not on the rotation schedule for today either. So, why are _you_ here?"

Leaning against the Hideouts wall, Henry shrugged.

"Takato called this morning and said that he needed to talk about something. Wouldn't say what it was, just that something weird had happened when he and Guilmon tried to biomerge the day before yesterday. Usually he calls me the same night or at least the morning after anything like that happens though. I wonder what could have kept him so busy all day yesterday."

Though her face was calm, Renamon was slightly nervous. She hoped that Takato was going to be careful about this. One slip and several years' worth of progress for Rika would be completely undone.

"_Looks like I'll be eavesdropping in on them after I'm through,"_ Renamon thought with a sigh.

"Now, I've answered your questions, but you still haven't answered mine. What are you doing all the way out here? I thought Rika usually slept in on Sundays?" Henry asked, still confused at her appearance.

"_Well, what was it Rumiko said last week? Third times the charm?"_

Remembering the possible ramifications of what she said or learned from this conversation however, she hoped that it would turn out better than the woman's last attempt at cooking.

So, taking a calming breath, she spoke.

"I have been trying to understand some of the more…irrational behaviors of humans as of late, and I had hoped that you might be able to provide me with some assistance."

Henry's face showed both his surprise and confusion, so Renamon headed off his most probable response.

"I would ask Rika for assistance with this, but…she is part of the question, so I do not think her response would be completely unbiased."

Henry nodded, seeing now why she hadn't simply asked her Tamer.

"But why couldn't you just ask her grandmother? You two spend plenty of time together, and she would-"

"You are better acquainted with the second individual than Seiko is. After taking everything into account, you are the most logical and reasonable choice," Renamon responded, cutting him off before he could finish.

Slightly stunned by having been cut off by Renamon of all...well, people, and from the mention of their being a second person involved, Henry became more than just a little nervous.

"Well, I would like to help…but it's not really my business to poke around in other people's personal lives. I wouldn't want to invade Rika's privacy…or the other person's whoever they might be," Henry replied carefully.

Renamon waved her hand, dismissing the argument.

"It is not a matter of privacy I assure you; I seek clarification, not to spread gossip."

Not having any other arguments left, Henry's shoulders slumped.

"Well, as long as it's not going to condemn me to Rika's wrath, I guess I can try to help. What's the problem?"

Hoping to get a clear answer that would actually make sense for once, Renamon closed her eyes, and spoke.

"I have been pondering over when you, Rika and Takato first started working together, when you first became a team. While I am grateful for the event, I am still confused as to why Takato was chosen to become the leader. Since meeting her, I have never known Rika to step aside and follow another, yet then, she did so without a second thought. I was hoping that you might be able to explain this to me, as you understand Takato better, and have a better understanding of humans overall than I do."

Henry blinked, and then blinked again. Thinking for about a minute, the boy spoke.

"I… honestly never actually thought about it before Renamon…it just seemed to…happen."

Seeing the slight change in the fox's eyes, Henry continued.

"You are wrong about one thing though, Takato was never chosen to be our leader, we didn't vote on it or anything."

Renamon quirked an eyebrow.

"Then why is he the leader if he was never chosen?" She asked, slightly confused at this disclosure.

Scratching his chin, Henry thought it over for a minute before grinning.

"You know, I think that might actually be the reason Rika followed him in the first place…it…knowing her, it actually makes a lot of sense."

Now even more confused, Renamon hoped that Henry wasn't becoming too much like the hackers he spent so much time with these days, muttering and rambling half thoughts while leaving everyone else around them completely in the dark. Thankfully, the boy realized what he was doing on his own…this time.

"You said yourself that Rika was never one to follow someone else right?"

Renamon nodded.

"Well, think about it. If someone is not inclined to following orders or being told what to do, what would they do if someone _didn't_ tell them what to do?"

Thinking it over, Renamon realized where this was going.

"You're thinking that it was some form of reverse psychology?"

Henry chuckled.

"I wouldn't go that far, Takato's not the type to do that, and we didn't know Rika that well at the time, so we couldn't have planned it, but basically, yeah, that's about it. From what she told us herself, people were always trying to tell her what to do, what to wear, how to act, what kind of person she should or needed to be. But when she met Takato…well, that went out the window."

Renamon crossed her arms and leaned against the tree behind her.

"I see your point, but I don't understand how you managed to come up with that conclusion. If what you're saying is true, then why didn't she leave after the first time he tried to tell her what to do? By your reasoning she only followed him because he had yet to try doing so."

Henry smiled and shook his head.

"Not quite. Remember the first time we met each other? When you were…well…" Henry wasn't quite sure how to word the event, but was thankful when he was spared from having to do so.

"When Rika had ordered me to upload Guilmon?"

Henry nodded before continuing.

"Then there was the time after that in the parking garage. Both times Takato _asked_ her and _begged_ her to stop; he didn't tell her or order her. While not on purpose, it had the same effect as reverse psychology. She was being given a choice, he was giving her an option, something no one else ever had up until that point."

"But if that was the trigger, why did she continue to tolerate you two? It might have caught her attention on some subconscious level, but it still doesn't explain why she followed you into the storm drain, or why she accepts Takato as a leader now."

Henry frowned. "I was getting to that, you just didn't let me finish."

Seeing Renamon remain silent, Henry guessed that was a sign to continue.

"Anyways, Rika is a bit…well, obsessive, and more than just a little prideful. In her mind, even if she didn't realize it, she had been proven wrong about something, that being that everyone was out to control her or something like that. When Takato failed to do that, she couldn't accept being wrong, she couldn't accept that not everyone would try and control her. So, to satisfy her ego and prove that she was right, she allowed us to be around her, and even started following us just waiting for someone to try and push her into doing something, anything. That's why she flipped out when I told you and Terriermon to get away from the storm drain that day."

Renamon had to admit that the boy's argument was a sound one, and it did fit with her Tamers personality. When she wanted to prove that she was right about something, she would go to great lengths to do so.

"_Still, it doesn't explain why she continued to follow them after Takato took charge…"_ Rather than jump the gun, Renamon waited this time before speaking.

"After that…well, it could be any number of things…" Henry alluded with a shrug and looked the other way.

"_Ah, but he does have a theory at least,"_ Renamon thought to herself smugly.

"What kind of things?" Renamon asked calmly. She was surprised to see Henry's expression redden slightly and noted him trying to cover it over with a cough.

"That depends on if you're just asking for yourself, or if you're going to be telling any of this to Rika," Henry explained.

Weighing her options, Renamon decided to go for it. She could always edit what she told Rika after all.

"It is for myself," Renamon half lied.

Quickly scanning the area with his eyes, Henry quickly met Renamon's gaze with his own, then answered.

"I think she had a crush on him."

* * *

Despite her prides best attempts, Rika had managed to admit she loved Takato, and had even accepted the possibility that he might actually like her as more than a friend. But that did not mean she was going to just roll out the welcome mat and go ask him out. This was a 'battle' in her mind, and as such, there were certain things that had to be planed out and measured before taking action. Of these, there was one in particular that worried her, one that remained as a very large roadblock for her to take such a huge risk as this.

What would change?

"_If…we do…become a couple…what would happen? He already knows more about me than anyone aside from my family, and we…used to spend a lot of time together, so that would come back."_

For what felt like the millionth time that morning, Rika's face heated up again.

"_We….would be closer though…it would be a while…but…"_

The image of her and Takato kissing came to mind, and she though she would never admit it, the image didn't bring a single sour or negative thought to mind.

"_Ok, I'll file that under 'think about later'. I need to stay focused. Nothing would really change between us other than the fact we would be a bit closer and more…physical than before. We would still hang out together, more often actually, we're already fairly open about what we're thinking, so that wouldn't change either."_

The more and more she thought about it, the harder it was to see negatives to this whole 'relationship' thing.

As it stood, she only had gains coming her way, no real losses. Takato was not one to borrow from others, nor was he the kind of person that asked for handouts. It was one of the things she liked most about him actually. What he had, he earned, or someone gave him, he never asked for anything from his friends other than help on occasion.

"_But what if he tries to control me or something? Or even worst, what if…he leaves me?"_

The one thing she hated above all else, and the one thing she feared above all else. In the bottom of her heart, Rika knew that these two conspirators were the primary cause of her loneliness, and why she had such a hard time making friends.

She was her own person; _no one_ controlled her or told her what to do. If she did something, it was because she wanted to, not because she was told to.

As her dreams from the previous night came to mind, fuzzy as they were, she realized what they meant.

"_Him rescuing me…I want…I want him to be in my life to some degree…but…I don't want him controlling me either."_

Apparently, her pride was a far more insidious foe than she had first thought. It was rare for her to have 'girlish' dream, but she did on occasion. But last night was the first time she had more than one in a single night.

"_Locomon…IceDevimon…and the D-Reaper…those were some of hardest fights Takato ever went through, but he still came through in the end. He didn't actually rescue me from the D-Reaper though…but…if I had been in Jeri's shoes; I know he would have tried just as hard for me as he did her."_

Now that she was able to think clearly, it didn't take much for her to figure out the source of her other two dreams from this morning. Her first three dreams involved Takato 'rescuing' her, which put him above her in terms of power, even if it was only a romantic fantasy. Her pride, sensing that she was in a way placing someone higher than herself responded by putting that same idea into a different context, namely a very, very negative one.

"_But has he ever done that before?"_

Her pride tried to muscle its way around the barrier her newly freed emotions had formed. In her mind, she could actually see an angry version of herself slamming its fists into a wall, trying to will or force it to crumble, but it didn't budge an inch, for once allowing Rika to think without it butting in and adding its two cents.

"_Takato has never once tried to make me to do anything, ever. He's asked me to help him, and has told me what to do in a fight, but he has never forced or even tried to force me to do anything. I can't even remember him ever telling me to do something outside of a fight situation, and even then he phrases it as a request."_

She had it, the one thing her pride was powerless against, the truth.

Her pride could needle its way in and argue on just about any topic, but it couldn't do squat when faced with proven fact. It couldn't make her think for an instant that her mother or grandmother didn't love her, and it couldn't even suggest that Renamon would do anything less than stand by her side until one of them died.

Now there was a third fact it could not argue with.

Takato would not, at any point _make_ her do anything, nor would he ever even _try_ to do so.

For the first time in her life, Rika smirked when she felt her pride get stung. She watched the angry version of herself disappear in a cloud of shouting and cursing.

"_Still…just because he won't try to make you do anything doesn't mean he won't…leave you,"_ a new yet familiar voice said smoothly.

Not knowing if she felt more like groaning or cry, Rika felt her fear step in to do battle. Her pride had been beaten, but now the true 'Arena Champion' was stepping up, and that was not good. She knew for a fact that her fear was a far nastier and more powerful opponent than her pride.

Her pride pushed people away, just as it had when she first met the others.

Her fear lashed out at others, just as it had when she had been saved by IceDevimon.

While in her mind her pride took on her own image, her fear took on another.

"_Hey Pumpkin, back for a rematch?"_

And what could have been a more fitting form for her fear, the one thing she had never been able to completely defeat to take, than the one person she had never been able to beat.

* * *

Renamon quickly 'looked up' the word in her mental database to double check its meaning, but there was no mistake about it.

'_Crush: short-lived love: a temporary romantic attraction, especially in teenagers and young people (informal) adjective'_

In short, it was a possible precursor to other weightier emotions.

"You believe that Rika harbors…romantic feelings towards Takato?"

Turning slightly red, Henry slipped before catching himself.

"Ye-, it's possible that at the time, yes."

Making note of the slipup, Renamon pushed the boy for more information. Emotions operated outside of the realm of logic, she knew that all to well. And while she did have emotions, there were still differences between her own and a humans, particularly when and where her Tamer was concerned.

"Why do you think that?"

Henry remained silent for a moment, likely trying to figure out a way to word this without it coming back to haunt him.

Renamon saw him look away, and heard him mutter something before looking back towards her.

"_The things you do for friends."_

"I think it, because it would fit the timeframe and the persons involved," Henry stated before taking a deep breath and continuing.

"Rika was twelve, which would mean her body had already started…maturing. She might act one way in public, but she's still human, so she still has hormones, even if she denies it, they are still there. Then, like I said before, its possible that she became obsessed with proving that Takato, and myself by extension would try to make her do something. She didn't care what at the time; she was just looking for proof. But, despite her personality, Takato never once pushed her away; he treated her like a friend even before she was one," again Henry paused to allow Renamon a moment to absorb what he was saying.

"That, coupled with the fact he never once showed any fear of her might have made him a primary target outlet for her bottled up emotions and hormones. It was the perfect storm situation, physically, mentally, and emotionally, Takato just got caught in the crossfire," Henry stated confidently.

Narrowing her eyes, Renamon processed the information, and didn't like it.

"You're saying it could have just as well been anyone else? That its simple math?"

Henry's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Simple math!? Are you, do you-" Stopping in mid sentence, the boy sighed before continuing.

"Renamon, if my guess is correct, what happened was about as far from _simple math_ as you can get. The closest thing to it would be Chaos Factorial Theory. Everything had to play out _perfectly_; it would be the end result to a thousand unknown variables and equations."

When he saw that Renamon was actually still listening to him, attentively even, he continued.

"First, even though her hormones might have been acting up a bit, they wouldn't have picked just any unwitting target, it would have to be someone that caught her attention at first glace, someone that stood out without any effort to her. That would have been a start, but without something to fuel it, it wouldn't have been anything more than 'noticing' someone, and have died in a few days. The fuel in this case would have been her emotions. Rememeber how I said that Takato never showed any fear of her?"

Renamon nodded.

"Well, that might have been something she wanted, or was thinking about on some level. If she was used to scaring people away, then for someone to not show fear of her would have stuck out in her mind."

"So it was his lack of fear that attracted her?" Renamon asked, thinking she was getting the basics of what he was explaining.

"Sort of, since he wasn't afraid of her, and hadn't tried to make her do anything, it could have kicked in her obsessive nature. If it did, then she would have been focused on him when he was around, or thinking about him when he wasn't."

In her mind, Renamon heard something click as it all fell into place. Her eyes widened by just a fraction, but even Henry caught it.

Flashback

"_Renamon…I'm afraid that I can't answer your question. I wish I knew the answer myself, but I don't. Everything that I know about Rika says that there is no way that she should have, that she would have brushed him off, or she would have made herself the leader at the time. I wasn't there when they first met, so I don't know if something happened that might have influenced her decision, or if there is more to it than that."_

"_Are you implying that Rika made a mistake in choosing to follow Takato's lead? That her judgment was not sound at the time?"_

"_No, that's not what I meant, it's just that…"_

"_Rika…hates being told what to do. She respects strength, but at the same time she despises being weaker than someone else. The thought that she would follow or accept anyone as a leader over herself is still difficult for me to imagine. But for her to accept someone that's not at least as strong as her as leader…it just goes against everything I know about her. The only thing I can figure is that it is something more than his skill or strength as a Tamer, that it must have nothing to do with digimon at all. Sorry if that's not what you were looking for, but it's all I can think of."_

Flashback end

"_Ryo..."_

Flashback

"_Well, you's see, after a while…you's get…you's get lonely ya know? Push all da people away, an they start pushing back, den you's end up bum outta luck on ya own."_

"_At f'irst, it aint so bad, ch'a t'hink that you's better off withoutta them all gumming up ya style. No body to tell ya what to do, no body to judge ya, and no body to hurts ya. But after a while longer, ya start getten a hu'rt in ya chest ya know? Feels like dares dis big hole, an it keep on gettin bigger and hu'rts ya mor'e and mor'e. Den, ya don't r'elly care what kinds o attention you get'n, somte'n beddar den noth'n right?"_

"_You're saying that…Rika was starved for attention?"_

_The small digimon shook his head._

"_Na, not ex'actly, she wanted someone dat wont fraid o her. Getten a'ttention is easy, repeat customers, dats hard."_

"_And why do you think that was the case?"_

_Smiling sadly, Impmon looked up at the tall yellow fox with one of his rare genuine honest smiles._

"_I knows toots, cause h'er eyes was da same as mine. I knows that look good, been staring at it in da water for a long time be'fo coming here and meete'n you's guys. It aint dar now, but it was den. She always had dis er um, bounce in er step round ol gogglehead ya know? Kinda made cha think she ad a lil some'm fo him."_

Flashback end

"_Impmon too…"_

Looking up at Henry, it took every ounce of self control Renamon had to keep her shock from leaking through.

"I…thank you Henry…you have given me…much to think about."

"Hey, no problem, that's what friends are for right?" The teenage boy asked with a warm smile.

Nodding her head, Renamon's ear twitched when she heard the familiar voice of Takato approaching.

"Tell no one I was here," she threatened before disappearing from view.

The boy looked stunned for a moment, but it was quickly replaced with a look of understanding, and a nod.

The fear and utter panic.

"Oh snap! I forgot about Terriermon!" Henry shouted once he remembered that he and his partner had been playing hide and go seek while waiting for Takato. During his little chat with Renamon, he had completely forgotten that his partner was still waiting for him to find him somewhere.

* * *

Rika shuddered when she and 'Ryo' locked glares. It looked every bit like him, cocky and completely assured of himself.

"_You've known Takato for what? Four years now, almost five right?"_

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Rika prayed this wasn't going in the direction she thought it was.

"_Five years huh? Now where does that sound familiar?"_ Her fear taunted her.

"_No, no, no, no, no. Please, not that,"_ Rika begged mentally.

"_Isn't that how long it took for your father to get tired of you? Why yes, it IS, you were five when he left weren't you?"_ Her fear jested.

Unable to respond, Rika could do nothing but wait until her fear had finished tearing down everything she had built up, just as it always had when she tried to make any major changes in her life.

"_Pth, and you actually think that he cares for you? You? He didn't get mad at you when you first attacked because he was too scared out of his mind."_

Rika shook her head.

"_Then the car port? Oh come on, how could you think he actually cared anything about you then? You had just tried to kill his partner for the second time in two days! He just didn't want for it to get out that a digimon had killed a human. If he let you die then they would have taken his partner away and that'd be the end of them."_

Reaching up, Rika covered her ears and tried to block out the voice that had eaten away at her since the day her father had left her, the voice she hated with every ounce of her being.

"_IceDevimon? Oh yeah, like Dino boy would pass up ANY Wild One that came through. I doubt he even knew that you were in trouble before he saw you were there, or cared when he saw you were."_

She could feel the barrier staring to crack in her mind. The one thing holding back her swarm of emotions and that let her think clearly was starting to fall apart.

"_Lets see, what other dribble have you set up here, OH, oh this is rich, Parasimon? Oh you have GOT to be joking! You're using the fact that he took out THAT weakling to mean something? It was probably his rage or his fear that was fueling him, you know, fear from having you try to play T-ball with his skull? Yeah, that wrench you were swinging at him really got the ol heart pumping hahaha!"_

Another crack splintered down the barrier.

"_I'm not even going to waste my time with most of the rest of this; it's so pathetic that it would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Oh he see's something in your eyes, yeah; it's called freakish eye color! How many people have you seen walking around with violet eyes? Ugh, I thought you were better than this Rika. You want to know why he put up with you for so long? It's because he probably had nothing better to do. I mean come on, aside form his loser friends, what else did he have going for him?"_

Desperate to silence the voice before it completely undid everything, she tried to focus on positive memories, him calling her name, his compliments, the time in the storm drain.

Sadly, her fear was aware of her thoughts, and used them.

" _Yeah, he thought it was awesome when you showed up to save his pet in the storm drain, awesome that someone that actually had a clue and knew what they were doing would be dumb enough to help him. Geeze, the rest of this is all hormones! He's a sixteen year old boy, what do you expect? He's no better than Kazu, he'll check out anything that wears a skirt and has a pulse."_

Feeling that the barrier was about to completely fall apart, Rika choked back the cry that was trying to escape.

She hated to admit it, but she still had no solid proof, there was no way to back up anything she had thought as anything more than circumstantial and open to interpretation. Her fear could be just as right as she could. What was worst was that she knew _her_ feelings and thoughts were true, she DID love Takato, but she had no way of knowing what was going through the boys head, or why he did what he did, she could only guess and hope.

"_It's thin because it hasn't had a chance to grow yet Rika. You locked it away and buried it deep within you, but it has still lent you its strength in your times of need. Stop fearing it, stop shunning it, let it help you."_ she heard Jeri's voice echo.

Before her was 'Ryo' and behind her the barrier holding back her emotions collapsed releasing a torrent. She was caught between them and had nothing left to lose.

Closing her eyes (in her mind) she tried to feel for that one red thread again. Feeling it graze her finger tip, she yanked it hard, only to panic when she felt it snag on another, much thicker cord. Again she tried to pull it, but the second cord was as thick as her arm and wouldn't budge an inch. In fact, it seemed to be wrapping around the thin red thread, like some kind of vine trying to choke it out.

"_Just accept it, you are what you are, and you always will be. The only thing that will ever change with you is your age, you're not worth caring for,"_ her fear taunted, trying to rub it in one last time.

"_Is…is that true?"_ Her absolute last and lowest of weak points had been struck. Feeling her grip on the red thread weaken, she was about to let go and give in to her fear once again, to remain as she had for so many years, but something told her not to, not this time. It started as a whisper, but it grew in strength.

"_You've got to hang on!"_

"_I've…heard this before….but where?"_ Her grip didn't weaken, but it didn't tighten either.

"_What's happened to you?! The Rika I know would never give up this easily!"_

Tightening her grip, Rika remembered where this memory was from, she remember it _very_ well.

"_All we have to do is work together! We can make it Rika!"_

Eyes snapping open, Rika looked up just in time to see the wave of her emotions wash _over_ her and slam into her fear full force.

"_I'm not WORTH caring for?!"_

Turing her head, Rika surprised to see her angry copy, the one she knew represented her pride. But instead of focusing its wrath on her, it was completely focused on her fear.

It took a moment for her to realize what had happened, but when it did, Rika did nothing to stop the grin spreading across her face.

"_When he said I wasn't worth caring for, he accidently struck my pride, now its fighting for me, not against me."_

Rika watched as her pride and her fear exchanged barbs, and then actual blows. For a moment, it seemed like her pride was going to win, but then she remembered who the stronger opponent was.

She _had_ defeated her pride only a few minutes ago after all.

Torn between helping and running, her decision was made for her when she saw her pride get tackled to the ground hard. Rika acted as quickly as she could, and again found the thin red cord.

"_Here it goes; I just hope this doesn't mess up my head any worst than it already is."_

Yanking the red cord as hard as she could, Rika watched as the punch her fear was sending towards her weakened pride's face got caught by the wrist.

By a very large, bright red and gold, armored gauntlet.

For the first time that she could ever remember, Rika saw her fear get shoved back.

Running towards her literally wounded pride, Rika helped it up and glared at her fear.

"News flash, I'm in charge here. This is my mind, and what I say goes. I don't _care_ what you have to say, and I don't _care_ that Takato might not…care for me as more than a friend. But I am not going to let you keep me back any longer, and I am not going to let you hurt me anymore. I've been alone because of you for twelve years, and I won't let you control me or hold me back anymore! I have friends now, friends that care about me, friends who will never abandon me!"

Trying to free itself from the larger armored figure, her fear snarled.

"Oooo scary. Go ahead and growl like the dog you are, you can't hurt me anymore!"

And just like that, it disappeared, leaving Rika alone with her pride and the red knight that had come to her aid watching her expectantly.

"I…thanks…for you help…" Rika said without looking up at the others faces.

The knight remained silent while her pride settled for crossing its arms.

"Don't mention it…seriously don't mention it to anyone. I've got a reputation to keep. Don't think that just because he stepped over the line I'm going to take this lying down," her pride snorted.

Taking a deep breath, Rika looked up to see the red knight disappear into thin air. When she looked back at her hand, she noticed that the red thread was now slightly thicker than it had been before. Not by much, but it was visible.

"So, you going to do it?" Her pride asked, almost making her jump out of her skin.

"Do it? Do what?"

Her pride cut her a knowing look.

"After all that, you had better march down to whatever little hole he's hiding in, drag him up, and ask his sorry butt out or I'll personally see to it that you'll be having nightmares of Kazu and Kenta singing American Woman until you do, you got that?" Her pride threatened.

Nodding her head slowly, Rika smirked.

"Yeah, I get it…and…again, thanks."

Rolling her eyes, Rika's pride disappeared into thin air, leaving her alone in the darkness.

"Well…I guess there's only one thing left to do huh?" She asked herself before closing her eyes in her mind, then opening them in the real world.

She blinked several times before noticing that the sun was starting to set, meaning it was already late in the afternoon.

"_I can't believe it; did the day really go by that fast? What happened?"_

Getting her bearings straight, she pushed herself up from the ground and groaned when she felt how stiff and sore her muscles were.

"_Good grief that hurts, how do the guys sit all day playing video games? I feel like a truck ran over me or something,"_ she thought as she stretched a bit.

Once she was able to stand and walk straight, she took a deep breath and pulled out her D-Arc.

"Well, no time like the present. I guess I should do this while I still have the nerve."

Bringing up her holographic compass, Rika searched for the familiar golden blip that she knew was Takato's signal.

"_So he's at the park huh? Wait a minute, why is Henry there? He'd better not be…no, calm down, I've already been through this once today, and that's two times too many for one day. It must be about something else."_

Returning her D-Arc to her belt, Rika set out at a jog for the park.

* * *

Renamon remained in her spot up in the tree just outside of the hideout. She couldn't see the two boys or their partners, but she could hear them just fine. Apparently, Takato was still thinking about the cross biomerge incident from two days ago, and had hoped that Henry would have some ideas about what had happened. She was a little bit disappointed that he hadn't stuck completely to his word that he wouldn't speak about the incident to anyone, but his concerned tone put it in a grey area of sorts.

"_He's worried about something…but what? It can't be Rika going through Guilmon's memories; he knows she wouldn't have done that. But what could it be? She's biomerged with me enough over the years that he should know the process isn't dangerous…"_

If there was one thing Renamon hated to admit, it was that Takato was far more complicated than people gave him credit for. He was for the most part very naïve, but he was far from stupid. Something was worrying him, worrying him enough to risk breaking his word. So far he had only infringed on his promise, he hadn't broken it exactly. But it was bugging her that something could weigh so much on his mind that he would do something like this.

Her ears twitched at hearing a familiar patter of footsteps approaching the hideout. Looking down the path, she saw a very pensive looking Rika. Her face was somewhere between a scowl and a grimace, and she could hear her muttering something to herself over and over that sounded suspiciously like 'I can do this'.

Shifting her gaze back to the boys, she saw Henry wave goodbye and leave carrying what looked like a statue replica of Terriermon.

That only left herself, Guilmon, Takato and Rika present.

"_If Rika was looking for me she would have called for me by now…she must be here for something else…but what?"_

* * *

Rika swallowed the lump in her throat and bit her lip. Never before had the stairs leading up to the hideout looked so long in all the years she had been coming here.

"_Come on, I can do this! For Jeri, me and my pride, I have to at least try!"_

Taking one last deep breath, she started up the stairs.

"Here goes…everything," she muttered to herself.

With each step she took, Rika could have sworn that the gravity was doubling. Each step was harder than the one before it.

"_I…need to do this….I promised I would…"_

Feeling like some unseen force was trying to crush her, Rika dug deeper and kept going.

"_I…want to do this…"_

While she could still feel the weight getting heavier and heavier with each step, she found that it wasn't quite as unbearable, she knew that she had the strength to keep going. It was difficult, but not impossible.

Reaching the top of the stairs, she looked inside and saw Takato sitting with his back to the wall staring at an invisible stop on the floor a few feet in front of him.

A few seconds passed, and he still didn't seem to notice her. It was almost like someone was trying to give her a chance to back out and run away, tempting her.

"_No way after what I've been through am I backing down now,"_ she thought clinching her fists.

"Hey, Gogglehead," she called out as she leaned against the concrete entrance. She hoped that he couldn't see how nervous she was and that she was able to pass as her normal calm self.

The boy looked up, not quickly but not exactly slowly either. He seemed to be in some sort of daze, like he had been thinking about something.

"Oh, hey Rika, everything alright?" Takato asked with his usual warm and friendly tone.

"_If everything alright? What, does he…well…he does have a point…the only times I've ever come looking for him is when theirs a problem…I guess I need to work on that…but what do I do…how do I…how am I supposed to ask him out when I still haven't thanked him for yesterday…"_

Seeing that as good of a place to start as any, she used it.

"Thanks for helping me out, I guess…I guess I owe you one," she said furrowing her brow. _"Ok, that's a start, now to keep it going. I thanked him, now I…what do I do?"_

"No problem, I'm just glad I could help," Takato replied with a beaming smile.

For some reason, that smile weakened her resolve. Seeing how honestly happy he was to help, she remembered the darker possibilities, the possibilities of what could happen if things went badly.

"_Is it worth risking? I already have his friendship…I…I don't want to lose that…"_

With a mental sigh, she made her decision.

"Same Gogglehead," she said turning to leave.

Starting down the steps, Rika felt a pang in her chest. She knew what she wanted, and she knew it could work, but the risk was just too great. She didn't want to lose what she already had just for a chance at something more.

"Hey Rika?"

"Hmm?" Stopping, but not completely trusting herself, Rika looked back over her shoulder. She was surprised to see that Takato had an extremely nervous, almost fearful expression on his face, one she had never seen before. A heartbeat later however it disappeared, covered with his usual friendly smile.

"Would you like to…hang out some time? I heard the new pizza place down the street is supposed to be pretty good."

"_He wants to hang out…sure..I gue…wait a minute…pizza place? Why would he…is he asking me out!? If he is..then…"_

Allowing herself a small smile, she nodded her head.

"Sure, I guess I'll see you later then…..Takato," she replied before turning away and continuing down the steps. It wouldn't do for him to see that her face was the same color as her hair after all.

* * *

From her spot up in the tree, Renamon smiled before vanishing and reappearing next to her partner once she was a short ways from the hideout.

"Rika," She greeted.

Her young Tamer looked up at her and blinked slowly.

"Oh, hey Renamon, where've you been? I haven't seen you since this morning," She asked, obviously still trying to compose herself.

"People watching," she replied casually as she shifted her gaze back towards the path ahead of them.

A few seconds of silence passed before her Tamer spoke up again.

"Did you…learn anything new?"

Looking back at her Tamer, Renamon pondered just how to respond to her question. She had learned quite a bit, but judging by what she had seen back at the hideout, and what the others had told her…

Allowing a small smirk to grace her features, Renamon looked back up before replying.

"Nothing you don't already know."

* * *

End chapter 3

End Endless Waltz of Change

AN: Whew, it's finally finished! The chapter that would not end I swear! Now, this chapter was written in three different parts, so you might notice it being a bit shaky or lacking the normal smoothness all the way through. That's what happens if I don't write out an entire chapter at one setting, I lose the mindset I had and it turns out different and a bit strange. I hope and pray that this chapter was not a let down to all of you who waited patiently for the conclusion of this story, but romance is a very difficult thing for me to write since I have ZERO experience in that department. I'm using other fics, books, movies and TV shows as a guide here, so if it seems a bit cliché in some parts, that's why. I know many of you are probably disappointed that there was no kiss, but I stated earlier that this fic would end where my first one 'A Valentines Day to Remember' did, just from a different POV. Now, I DO have a continuation of this fic in the works, it's a shorter one (only two chapters) that will cover the 'date' and the rest of the days events. After that will be some more chapters of 'Four Years Through Our Eyes' then the 'big fic'. I might do a few other one shots here and there, but I'm gearing up for the big one to try and get it out ASAP.

So, be on the look out for the fifth story in this series: 'Promise' to up in the (hopefully) near future!

So, how did I do? My first true attempt at a romance centric fic is now done. Was it good? Bad? Tolerable? You guys are my gauge! Your reviews help me improve and keep me going, so please let me know!

Till next time, Ja Ne!


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